


Uncertain as the Dawn

by Malkuthe



Series: At the Break of Dawn [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Comfort/Angst, Crushes, Hazel can't help but fan herself because of Nico and Will, Healing, Heart-to-Heart, Heartache, Heartbreak, M/M, Misunderstandings, More angst, One of these things is false, Percy Jackson is an idiot, Piper and Jason promise to never give each other pet names like Annabeth and Percy, Reyna slams Will against a wall, Self Confidence Issues, Someone dies, Stupidity, Zeus is a colossal dick, i dunno, which one is it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-12-06
Packaged: 2018-02-25 11:59:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2620928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malkuthe/pseuds/Malkuthe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set directly after <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/2580866/chapters/5744246">No Mercy for the Storm</a>, in Uncertain as the Dawn, the Final Prophecy has been spoken. Apollo has been hurled to the mortal world from mount Olympus, but a paranoid Zeus has forbidden anyone who witnessed the Final Prophecy from disclosing it. </p><p>The Seat of the Gods’ power is closed to everyone, but the demigods of Camp Half-Blood have more to worry about than the issues of their godly parents. Two of the demigods in question, Nico di Angelo and Will Solace are in for a ride as a misunderstanding threatens to drive a permanent wedge between them, potentially shattering the blooming friendship, and perhaps, eventual romance, between them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Reckless Sea

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belonging to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series belong to me. If you don't like male-on-male relationships, walk away now.
> 
> Alright. So. This is a more angsty variant of my SolAngelo fics. This is based on the headcanon that Will Solace is almost every bit as insecure as Nico di Angelo was. Also, whenever I write about these two, I imagine Nico as 17 and Will as 19. Just think of it as an AU where everyone was about three years older.

“Hey” The voice startled Nico from his reverie. He’d been thinking about Will and his stay in the infirmary. His thoughts had been far too jumbled to make any sense of, but there was one common thread — he’d started liking being there. He didn’t like the fact that he was liking the infirmary. Nor did he like the fact that he could feel something in his chest tugging him towards Will Solace, but such was the way of the world, it seemed. The Fates were excessively cruel to children of Hades, he’d mused. Still, he couldn’t get Will Solace out of his head.

The voice was accompanied by sea-green eyes, an infuriatingly annoying, but at the same time somehow endearing smile, a cute face, and a mop of hair that seemed to somehow add to the guy’s over-all attractiveness. Yep. This was definitely the goof that Nico di Angelo had had the biggest crush on for the longest time. His eyes darted around for a moment. Will was standing by the door, looking at him with an unreadable expression. The son of Apollo carried a plate of food. It took a few moments before he walked in and set the plate on the bedside table.

The son of Apollo made his way to sit in the chair by Nico’s side, but Percy beat him to it. The son of Hades noticed a tightening in Will’s expression. He had a suspicion it was jealousy, but he dared not think about it, or hope that it meant that perhaps the uncertain feelings he felt for the son of Apollo were reciprocated. “How are you feeling, Nico?” asked the son of Poseidon. He leaned over the bed, thankfully, just in range for Nico to swat him in the face.

“I was falling asleep” said the sable-haired demigod in the bed. Will’s eyebrows furrowed in a concerned expression echoed by Annabeth. The daughter of Athena reached underneath the bed and pulled out another chair. Apparently there was more than one. Nico had not known that. Then again, he’d made a point of avoiding the infirmary a lot in the past. It was bad enough he was a child of Hades. Him being around the sick and, at times, the mortally injured was less than appreciated. Annabeth placed her hand on Nico’s and squeezed it, as though to reassure herself that he was still solid. Still _there_.

“Again?” asked Percy after a moment of careful consideration. He did not know much about medicine or health other than don’t get stabbed or shot or poisoned or a variety of other bloody injuries, but even he could tell that sleeping as much as Nico had that day was not a good thing. “That can’t possibly be healthy. You’ve been out for most of the day… Or so Jason told me.” Will’s lips thinned into a line. Annabeth looked at him briefly, then back at Nico. Like Jason, she suspected there was something more to Will’s relationship with Nico.

The head-counsellor of Apollo wouldn’t have acted out in such a fashion for just anyone. She knew as much. She’d known him for a while, after all. Percy placed a hand on Nico’s shoulder, but the son of Hades flinched away from it. There was a momentary surprise on Will’s face, then a profound sadness for a split-second. Both expressions were quickly replaced by a frown directed at Percy and Nico. “Right? That’s not okay?” asked the son of Poseidon, looking pointedly at Annabeth and at Will.

“Normally, I’d say it’s not…” said Will tersely, meeting Nico’s eyes. There was an unreadable emotion dwelling behind those sparkling blue eyes that threatened to draw the son of Hades in. He could sense fear and see uncertainty. That much he knew as a child of the Underworld. Yet there was still something else in those eyes that he couldn’t quite understand, probably because he’d only ever had one experience with infatuation. “But we don’t really know very much about children of Hades…” the son of Apollo was measuring his words. “Particularly ones as powerful as Nico. I can’t say if more sleep will help or harm him…”

Annabeth had a curious look on her face as she observed Will, but she hid it as she turned to Nico. “I wish I still had Daedalus’ laptop. There might have been something on there about how to best reverse the effects of using too much Underworld magic…” she lamented. She’d lost the thing during the whole damnable trial to retrieve the statue of her mother that had ended in her and Percy falling into Tartarus. Even the slightest recollection of that harrowing experience sent a tremble through her. Nico responded by squezing her hand in turn.

The daughter of Athena smiled at the son of Hades. He understood. He better than anyone, the horrors that Annabeth and Percy had gone through in the Pit. “Well, you don’t” said Will, the words coming out as a snap, something he’d not intended. His cheeks turned a shade of pink, but he did not apologize. “So I think it’s best we let him rest as much as he can. It may very well be the only way for him to recover properly.” Nico didn’t know why, but Will seemed to be always a little bit more abrasive than normal when his male friends were around. It was starting to tick him off.

“Fine” said Percy, frowning at Will. Normally the son of Apollo was a cool guy. He didn’t know why, but when it came to Nico, everything suddenly seemed different for he head-healer. He still remembered the humiliating defeat he’d suffered at the hands of the son of Apollo only the previous night. He was still a bit butt-hurt about that, as Annabeth could attest to. It was all he could talk about while they were busy trying to plan for Kymopoleia’s shrine by the Long-Island sound.

“Hey!” said Nico, piping up for the first time since his health began being discussed. “I’m right here, you know. And it’s not like I’m in a vegetative state. I can hear just fine that you’re talking about me” he said somewhat bitterly. “I’m going to rest! Fine! I get it. I need it” he admitted begrudgingly. “But could you please not talk about me like Hephaestus kids when they get on and on about broken machines?” Annabeth smiled and apologized. Will did the same, except for the smiling. Percy scratched his head, earning him another swat from the Italian.

“Fine. Fine. I’m sorry, Nico” said the son of Poseidon with a shit-eating smirk that made Nico want to punch him, and made Will ball his hands into fists. “You and I have to talk, di Angelo.” The son of Hades promptly turned a half-dozen shades of pink.

“W-what about?” he managed to stutter out. Will looked cross. One of his eyebrows was raised. His arms were crossed over his chest. Annabeth was fairly certain that she was seeing a little green envy in those blue eyes of his. “If this is about the thing I told you a few days ag—”

“Yes! It’s exactly about the thing you told me a few days ago!” Annabeth rolled her eyes. Percy had never once stopped talking about it, much to her chagrin, even though it made quite the humorous entertainment at times. The son of Poseidon was trying to figure out if Nico had ever tried to hint his feelings for Percy.

“I-I don’t really know what more to say?” said Nico, the statement turning into something more of a question at the end. “I mean… I told you, I think you’re cute…” There was a loud clatter. Will had picked up the sword that was still under the bed, only to promptly drop it at Nico’s statement.

The daughter of Athena was somewhat surprised that Nico was so open about his sexuality, but she supposed perhaps he’d come to trust Will over the last few days, or he simply didn’t care anymore if anybody knew. That or it was a slip of the tongue. Annabeth suspected it was the latter, because Nico promptly turned a few shades of pink darker.

The son of Hades looked at Will, who was still standing there frozen in shock. He visibly grimaced, but he turned his gaze to Percy. “But you _really_ aren’t my type!”

“See! There it is again! What do you mean I’m not your type?” Annabeth rolled her eyes. Here it comes, she mused. The same line she’d heard over and over again from Percy Jackson. It made her want to vomit. “I’m everyone’s type!” protested the son of Poseidon. Will’s fists at his sides tightened, though only Annabeth noticed the subtle display of frustration from the healer. “And you can’t go and say that I was your crush for so long and then turn around and say I’m not your type the next sentence!”

“Percy… Percy…” said Nico, eyes still trained on Will’s hidden-away face, as he shook his head from side to side. The son of Poseidon evidently had expected to have the upper ground in the argument, considering Nico was somewhat incapacitated, but he’d been wrong. Finally Will turned to face the son of Hades, but it was not much better. His arms hung limply by his side, but his hands were balled into really tense fists. His face was unreadable, but his eyes bore into Nico’s with an intensity that the Italian couldn’t understand.

The son of Hades gulped audibly. Annabeth tensed where she sat. Percy was still too absorbed with not being Nico’s type to notice the tension palpable in the air, likely ready to snap at the slightest provocation. The son of Apollo was numb. Even though he’d suspected and hoped it, Will’s mind was whirling and couldn’t process the explicit confirmation that his crush was gay too. Nico understood him on a completely different level!

“You’re an idiot, Percy…” managed Nico, tearing his eyes away from Will, pretending to be cool and collected while his heart hammered away in his chest.

There were a few moments of stunned silence from the demigods. Then a few emotions crossed Percy’s face. Confusion. Hurt. Outrage. Then Annabeth started laughing at the faces her boyfriend was making, even while she warily kept an eye on Will who was still staring numbly at Nico.

“Whatever that was…” Nico waved a hand weakly. “It’s over. No hard feelings. I told you, Perce. I’m happy for you and Annabeth.” The daughter of Athena squeezed Nico’s hand in appreciation. The Italian turned to her and grinned, albeit somewhat nervously. “I never stood a chance against this particular daughter of Athena anyway”

Annabeth laughed more and kissed Nico on the cheek. “You’re not bad yourself, son of Hades. I’m sure you’ll make a very lucky man happy yourself someday.” A wistful look passed over Nico’s face, and his eye darted for a split-second toward Will Solace, but the daughter of Athena caught it.

Percy’s mouth worked wordlessly for a moment. “Percy, you’re not everyone’s type. Deal with it,” said the daughter of Athena, to which she got an incoherent grumble as a response. The son of Poseidon looked like a kicked puppy. It was hilarious.

Annabeth looked meaningfully at the son of Hades and then glanced at Will who was still standing frozen in shock. “Besides, I think that his type is currently leaning towards the tall, blond, blue-eyed and handsome.” Then she clapped her hand over her mouth as though she did not mean to say any of that.

Nico was stunned into absolute silence. Will craned his head as though the words were moving slowly through the air, taking their precious time to register in his head. Nico was so embarrassed he wanted to disappear. Shadows pooled around him but _that_ shook the son of Apollo from his stupor.

Will scowled at Nico. The son of Hades flinched and the shadows vanished. Then altogether, the meaning behind Annabeth’s words hit the healer. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips, but he dared not hope that the daughter of Athena meant him.

Annabeth had buried her face in her hands and was shaking hear head, mumbling apologies to the son of Hades, but the cogs in Percy’s mind were working over-time. “Jason? Jason Grace?” blurted out the son of Poseidon, eyes wide in shock. Annabeth looked up at him with the most horrified look she could muster.

The same expression, magnified manifold was on Nico’s face. He was absolutely mortified. Will Solace, on the other hand, could feel his heart shatter in his chest at the silence. Was that confirmation that Nico liked Jason? It might as well have been.

Nico should’ve denied it if it wasn’t true. Instead he was sitting there with a horrified expression on his face. Will turned away to hide the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes. “I…” the son of Apollo’s voice trembled. He steadied himself. His back stiffened. “I forgot something.”

“Bye,” said Will, walking, in perhaps the most awkwardly stiff gait in the history of Camp Half-Blood, toward the door of the infirmary. Once he crossed the threshold, he broke into a run, sniffling and wiping the tears that then began to fall freely from his eyes.

“Will!” Annabeth shot to her feet, crying out. “Wait!” It was, unfortunately, too late. Nico had wanted to correct Percy, but Will had been right there. He hadn’t wanted to expose what he felt about the healer especially since he wasn’t entirely sure about his feelings at all.

“Nico…” said Annabeth, teary-eyed herself. The son of Hades was still laying there, frozen to the spot. “Nico I am so so sorry! I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t know what came over me. I’m so sorry…” she lamented. The son of Hades was unresponsive. The scene of Will running away kept replaying in his mind.

“It’s okay…” managed the sable-haired demigod weakly, though he still couldn’t tear his eyes away from the spot where he’d last seen Will before he dashed out of sight. Nico’s vision was starting to become blurry from the tears welling in his eyes.

“Seaweed Brain!” said Annabeth, making the son of Poseidon jump where he sat confused. For the first time in a long while the affectation was not affectionate at all. It was more said in… annoyance, to say the least. “Seaweed Brain! Sometimes I wonder if that’s even too much of a compliment. Do you have _anything_ in that thick skull of yours? _Seaweed_ can be more intelligent than you are!” she hissed. Stupid children of the Big Three and their natural rivalry.

Of course the son of Poseidon would instantly assume it was his rival! It was as much her fault as it was his, but she didn’t want to acknowledge that at the moment. Percy opened his mouth to protest, but Annabeth cut him off.

“I was talking about Will, you goof!” Percy visibly grimaced. Oh boy had he fucked up. “Now look what you’ve done! He thinks Nico likes Jason!” Nico was pale as a ghost. He was trying his best to summon the shadows to himself, so that he could shadow-travel out of the infirmary and to his private quarters in Hades’ palace, but the concentration to do that was failing him. “You are so freaking dense, sometimes, Perce!” said the daughter of Athena, leaning over the bed and poking Percy in the middle of the chest.

Percy was about to defend himself and say that Annabeth was as much to blame as he was, when Nico began to speak, “Oh gods…” he whispered, shaking. The daughter of Athena glared at her boyfriend. The meaning was very clear. ‘ _We will talk later._ ’ Annabeth sat back down on her chair and gripped Nico’s hand tightly.

The Italian rolled onto his side, his back turned against the son of Poseidon. Nico closed his eyes, trying to will the tears that threatened to spill back into his tear-ducts. It wasn’t working, of course. His cheeks were wet in record time.

“He… He probably hates me now…” cried the demigod. Annabeth often forgot just how young Nico was. The son of Hades’ voice broke. He made a choking sob that just made Annabeth’s heart hurt. Percy reached for Nico, but the son of Hades shrank away from his touch. “H-He hates me b-because I-I’m…”

“Don’t say it, Nico” warned the daughter of Athena, squeezing the son of Hades’ hand tighter. “He doesn’t hate you because you’re gay.” The word felt like a punch in the gut after everything that had happened. The son of Hades visibly flinched when Annabeth said it.

“I think he likes you,” said the daughter of Athena. She was no daughter of Aphrodite, but she had heard of Will’s irrational protectiveness of Nico, and she’d seen the jealousy that flared in his eyes whenever Percy came too close to the son of Hades. She wasn’t stupid. She knew what a really strong crush was like. She’d seen Nico have it for gods’ sake, even though she’d thought that the son of Hades had had a crush on _her_ instead of her boyfriend. A terrible, almost-crippling infatuation was the only thing that could cause such a reaction. She was sure of it!

“He probably just thought you liked someone else and got really jealous and hurt and heartbroken…” She wasn’t very good at this whole consoling thing, but she was going to try her damn best. She felt personally responsible for some of Nico’s pain and wanted to make up for it.

“You’re just saying that…” lamented the son of Hades to the daughter of Athena. “He hates me…” he said again. Annabeth frowned. Were all the children of the Big Three so dense and stubborn? Because it was beginning to seem like that. Despite how sweet a boy Nico di Angelo was under all the gloom and doom, he certainly shared many traits with Percy and Jason, some of them not so pleasant.

As though to prove her point, Percy tried to reach for Nico again. Annabeth scowled at him. He held up his hands in surrender. “Leave, Percy. I don’t think you’re going to be able to help.” With that she turned her full attention to Nico as her boyfriend gaped at her, uncomprehending. Percy looked like a puppy twice-kicked, and in some ways, he practically was.

Annabeth took her other hand and started to stroke Nico’s arm as Percy stormed out of the infirmary. “Nico… Listen to yourself. Do you honestly, really believe that?” she asked. She wished Piper was there. She _really_ wasn’t very good at the whole consoling thing. If anything she would try to make Nico see that it was illogical to think Will hated him.

“I don’t know what happened the last four days here in the infirmary, Nico, but think about it. Would anyone that hated you take care of you like Will did? I heard he never left your side, even when you were asleep…”

Nico shook his head. “But he didn’t know I… I was… I liked guys until right now…” he said. “And when he found out, he ran away!”

“No, Nico, he ran away when Percy asked if you liked Jason!” Annabeth scratched her head. She didn’t know what else to do. She supposed trying the ‘trust’ card couldn’t hurt.

“Look, Nico, do you trust me?” The smaller demigod nodded his head silently, still avoiding the daughter of Athena’s stormy gray eyes. “Look, I know that you think he hates you, but believe me, he doesn’t. You have to trust me on this, Nico. Will doesn’t hate you.”

“Maybe I don’t fully trust you after all…” said the son of Hades.

“Nico!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cackles madly* ALRIGHT! So here it is! First chapter of the new miniseries! You are going to _love_ this. Hear that sarcasm? Yeah? HAHAHA.
> 
> I would like to hear your thoughts! Also. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask something of you guys. I'd like to have someone to beta-read for me! The bonus is that you get to read the chapters before they go up! [Send me an ask on my tumblr! Click this thing!](http://malkuthe-highwind.tumblr.com/ask/)
> 
> Also. Here's what I'm going to do, with every Saturday update, I'll open my ask-box to you guys to ask the characters. It will be open until midnight(central time [UTC -5:00]). So, if you want to know anything and maybe get delicious teasers, well, you know what to do. :3.
> 
> I'd like to hear your thoughts on this chapter! So please, leave a kudos if you like it, and comment your feedback! I would most definitely love to read them. :3
> 
> ...You are going to hate me by the end of this. >:]
> 
> OH. Also. By the way. If you follow me on tumblr, I sometimes post teasers of upcoming chapters there. <3\. Also. If you do, send me an ask with suggestions for things I should put up on the blog!


	2. A Cynical Darkness

“Nico, you can’t keep going around like this…” The son of Hades had taken back his hand from Annabeth’s grip and was now hugging his pillow in a fetal position, face buried in the surprisingly soft thing. There was a muffled response that Annabeth was fairly certain was along the lines of ‘ _yes I can._ ’ She’d spent the last half-hour trying to console the inconsolable son of Hades, and nothing really was working. She had considered leaving and looking for Piper to help, but then she’d looked at Nico and decided that leaving him would be a really bad idea.

“You can’t seriously believe everyone out there is going to hate you…” said Annabeth, though now that she thought about it, he probably did. Nico di Angelo had been born at a time and in a place that couldn’t possibly have been friendly to the LGBT community. Considering that of the people present at camp, he was the one who had had the least contact with the normal, mortal world in the last few years, he probably still did not know that the world had already changed and become more accepting of those that were born with a romantic predisposition for the same sex.

“Nico! Do you trust me?” Yet again the daughter of Athena received a muffled response from the gibbering wreck that Nico had managed to devolve into because of her slip-up and Percy’s subsequent idiocy. “What?” There was a frustrated groan followed by another muffled response.

“Only if you’re not going to say Will doesn’t hate me!” replied the son of Hades before Annabeth could ask a third time. Then he buried his face in the pillow again, trembling the whole time. He was trying his best to not make his sniffling heard, but it was difficult to miss.

Annabeth wanted to flip the bed out of frustration. Why did all the children of the Big Three have to be as stupidly stubborn as their fathers? It was endearing on their best days, but on their worst, like today was for Nico, it was absolutely infuriating instead. “I wasn’t going to say that!” protested the daughter of Athena. She could only imagine Nico rolling his eyes. “No, I was about to say, Nico, that the world has changed for people that just happen to fall in love with people of the same gender.”

“No one’s going to hate you for that. The church definitely isn’t going to hunt you down and burn you for being gay. No one’s going to throw you into prison or execute you for that… At least here in the U.S.” Annabeth liked to keep up with world news whenever she was outside of the camp, and although she was a little behind what with everything that had happened in the last handful of months, she was fairly certain the landscape of human rights had not drastically changed while they were fighting Gaea. “Things are different now. People are more accepting.”

Then it hit her. The one thing that had puzzled her since the beginning of this whole exchange with Nico. Of course in the beginning she couldn’t quite name why she was puzzled, but now she remembered. “Nico!” said Annabeth, shaking the son of Hades by the shoulder. It was one of the things that everyone in camp knew about because there were so few homosexual demigods. At least ones that were out. Will was out. Everyone knew. Or at least everyone that was regularly at camp knew. Nico probably didn’t. If only she’d realized sooner, maybe she could have helped Nico better!

“Nico! Will is gay too!” said Annabeth, probably sounding far more excited than was appropriate. The son of Hades, though, had simply frozen where he lay.

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better…” said Nico after a short moment’s silence. Nevertheless, he was starting to unravel from the ball he’d squeezed himself into. “There’s no way Will is gay too. He’s with Lou Ellen!”

Annabeth made a strange sound as she tried to stop the giggle that wanted to leave her lips. “Nico! They’re not together! They’re best friends!” Annabeth lost it and started laughing, much to the chagrin of the son of Hades.

“I don’t know…” said the sable-haired Italian. “I don’t know… Annabeth. I think they _are_ together. Maybe he just lied to hide their relationship…” Nico rolled over onto his back, but he still clutched the pillow to his chest. If the pillow had not been tear-streaked, and if Nico’s eyes and cheeks were not red from crying, it would have looked adorable. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

The daughter of Athena rolled her eyes at Nico. He was going deny everything as long as he could, wouldn’t he? “Believe what you want, Nico…” she said, throwing up her arms in defeat. If the fact that Will was gay wouldn’t make the Italian stop in his self-loathing, Annabeth didn’t know what more she could do other than put into motion a plan to get the two demigods who so obviously liked each other, together. Anyone who had two eyes and half a brain would be able to see the undeniable attraction between the two. Apparently, except for Nico and Will, and Percy. Then again, the son of Poseidon was dense about most things. “I’ll go if you want some time alone.”

Annabeth was going to need some of Piper’s help to enact this plan of hers to get the two demigods together. If the fact that Nico was a close friend would not be enough to convince the daughter of Aphrodite, maybe the prospect of kicking into motion a relationship would. They had to be careful, though, so that neither Will nor Nico would find out about the plan before it was too late. Judging from the reactions of the two to what had just happened, Annabeth was fairly certain that if they got wind of what she was planning, they would run away faster than the wind.

\----------

Will probably should have knocked because one moment he was a distraught, lovestruck guy, the next he was a guinea-pig chasing after the stalk of lettuce in Lou Ellen’s hand. The damnable daughter of Hecate kept him like that for a few minutes, laughing all the while, as he got more and more frustrated with chasing after the food. Then he realized exactly who he was and he crept over to Lou’s leg and bit her. Now, very few people had any experience getting bitten by guinea pigs-that-were-actually-their-friends, but now Lou Ellen could vouch for the fact that the little bastards’ teeth were incredibly sharp.

With a loud yelp, the daughter of Hecate jumped from her bed and Will Solace was suddenly a boy again. Mostly. He grabbed for the lettuce and ate it raw. A side-effect of getting transformed. After the whole guinea-pig mentality phase had passed, the son of Apollo, instead of making a wisecrack at the daughter of Hecate, curled up onto himself and started sobbing. Lou Ellen frowned and sat down beside him. “Will?” she asked, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Will, what’s wrong?” There was no response from the healer. Well, at least no coherent response. The golden-haired demigod let loose an unintelligible string of words, both mundane and profane, that left the daughter of Hecate more confused than she had been before she’d asked the question. “Will, what did I tell you about mumbling?” she said sternly. There was another muffled response. The son of Apollo was crying into her sheets. She made a face. At least there was more than one bed in the cabin. “Will. You have to talk to me properly if you want me to help.”

“Gods of Olympus you boys are infuriating” muttered the Mist-weaver under her breath. She waited a few minutes for the son of Apollo to finally calm down enough to unfold from the fetal position and start talking to her. Will looked up at Lou Ellen with red eyes and tear-streaked cheeks. He sniffled and wiped his nose with the back of his hand, wiping that in turn on his shirt. The son of Apollo was trembling. He reached for his necklace of beads and started toying with one, spinning it around the leather cord.

“It’s Nico…” said the healer, his voice breaking ever so slightly at the mention of the son of Hades’ name.

“Oh don’t tell me you were being an idiot again, Will Solace. This whole insecurity complex of yours has got to stop. It will be the end of you” said the daughter of Hecate, at first sternly, but more softly and gently towards the end when she noticed the flinching of her dear friend with every word. She put her arms around Will’s shoulders and dragged him up into a sitting position. Well, a leaning position, as that was what he did. He leaned against her.

“Nico likes Jason Grace” said the son of Apollo, his voice and entire body numb. He could hardly believe that Nico di Angelo was gay to begin with. The son of Hades preferred men! That had been great news! That he preferred them tall, blond, blue-eyed and handsome was even better news! Then Jackson had to go and name Jason Grace and all of a sudden it all made sense, how close Nico was to the son of Jupiter, how protective Jason was of him. Nico liked Jason Grace! That was the inconvenient truth!

The daughter of Hecate frowned at her friend. “And what makes you so sure about that?” she asked, squeezing Will’s shoulders. The son of Apollo spent a minute or two in silence before he took a deep breath and started to relay the events of the day to his best friend. There was another period of near-deafening silence afterwards. Then Lou Ellen rapped her knuckles on his forehead.

“Ow! What in Hades was that for?” protested the son of Apollo, rubbing his forehead. Healing light streamed uncontrollably from his hand and made the slight pain go away.

“I have no idea where on earth you got the idea that Nico likes Jason!” said the daughter of Hecate, rising from the bed and letting the golden-haired demigod fall to the bed in surprise. She placed her hands on her hips. “I’ve said it once, and I will say it again. Will Solace, you are an idiot” huffed Lou Ellen, frowning at Will. “Did you ever consider in the time that you ran to my cabin and barged in unannounced, that maybe Nico didn’t deny it because he was in shock and wasn’t ready to admit to any feelings for you?”

“You’re just sa—”

“I am _most definitely not_ just saying that!” snapped the daughter of Hecate. She didn’t want to sound so cross with her friend, but in all the time they’d known each other, Lou Ellen had found that an angry talking-to was pretty much one of the only ways to get through to the son of Apollo when he was so utterly convinced of his own inferiority. “You know, I think _you_ are the one who’s just saying things! You’re just saying that Nico likes Jason because you’re too much of a coward to admit to him that you like him.”

The golden-haired demigod’s mouth worked wordlessly for a moment. He gaped and gawked at his friend. “Excuse me?” he said, softly, as he sat up on Lou Ellen’s bed, feeling slighted by the insult. He didn’t think he was a coward. He just thought he was useless on the battlefield for anything other than healing those who had been injured. “I am not a coward! I’m telling you, Lou, he likes Jason!” Will jumped to his feet and shook the daughter of Hecate by the shoulders. “It makes much more sense that he likes Jason!”

“Okay, first thing’s first, Solace, Jason already has a girlfriend!” Will rolled his eyes as if that little tidbit was inconsequential. “Second of all, this is your godsdamn inferiority complex acting up again. The only reason you’re so utterly convinced that Nico di Angelo likes Jason Grace is because to begin with you are so utterly convinced that Jason Grace is in every way, better than you, which, newsflash, idiot, he’s not!” Will opened his mouth to protest. “Oh sure he went on a grand quest and ended up saving the world, but you’re always out there helping the injured in the heat of battle.”

“Just because your expertise on the battlefield lies elsewhere doesn’t mean you’re any worse than those of us that jump into the fray waving swords and yelling things!” Lou Ellen pushed Will back down onto her bed by his shoulders. He sat there, trying to get a word in, but the tirade was not going to let up any time soon. “Oh and don’t get me started on that whole ‘ _just a healer_ ’ spiel of yours. It’s not true. You are more than that. I mean, don’t think I didn’t see that light thing you did with your hands. Do you know how many children of Apollo have photokinesis, Will Solace?”

Will opened his mouth to answer but Lou Ellen placed her finger on his lips to silence him. “I’ll ask and answer the questions here, okay? You sit there and listen, mister, because I am getting tired of this moping of yours. Zero! Nada! Zilch. None of your siblings have those powers! And I’m pretty sure none of Apollo’s children in the stories have had them either! So you are most definitely not _just_ a healer. You are special in your own right. So get your head out of your butt and stop acting like you’re the worst of the worst when you’re not.”

The son of Apollo took a deep breath and was about to launch a tirade of his own when Lou Ellen fixed him with the most withering glare she could manage. Hands on her hips, she glared at him and asked sternly. “Enough of this self-pity, Will. Understood?” The golden-haired demigod shook his head from side to side. It wasn’t self-pity! It was the truth! He wasn’t anything more than a healer! Jason was objectively better than he was! “Am. I. Understood?” asked the daughter of Hecate, poking Will in the middle of his chest to punctuate her every words.

The son of Apollo glared at Lou Ellen for a few moments before he hung his head in resignation. She did make very succinct points. He sighed and begrudgingly wrapped his arms around his best friend. “You’re an asshole, Ellen.”

“You too, Solace,” said the daughter of Hecate, returning the embrace with a lighthearted chuckle. Yep. The angry tirade _always_ worked with Will. Maybe when the boy finally got with Nico di Angelo, she would teach Nico the ways of shouting at Will to get him to listen. It would definitely be interesting to see the son of Hades yelling at Will to get his head out of his ass.

“Thank you” said the son of Apollo, tightening his grip on his friend. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Lou” said the healer, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. “Really, I mean it, thank you” he said, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

Lou Ellen pulled away and held Will at arm’s length by his upper arms. “You’re always welcome. You know that, Will” she said, returning the peck on the cheek.

\----------

Percy, Piper and Jason had been enjoying the short interlude after dinner, when Annabeth had stalked up to them with a glint in her eyes that definitely meant she was planning something. Percy was practically bouncing on the heels of his feet when she came around with that determined look. However, much to the surprise of the three, she grabbed Piper’s arm and dragged her off with the flimsy excuse of girl bonding time. Percy had wanted to come, but he was delegated to looking over the plans for the Kymopoleia shrine.

Jason had wanted to come, but that was the reason he was standing by the doorway of the infirmary now. Annabeth had shooed him off to look after Nico because Will had yet to return. The son of Jupiter walked over to the son of Hades’ bedside and sat on the chair there. “Hey, Nico…” he said. He was surprised and a bit unsettled by the sudden silence that followed his words. He was expecting a smart quip or some variation of ‘leave me alone’ but it didn’t come. Instead the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.

The son of Jupiter reached over to squeeze Nico’s shoulder. He’d done that on his first visit, and the son of Hades had not had any complaints about the touch. He had been happy Nico was starting to open up more to him. “Nico are you alright?” he asked, confused. Percy had told him about what happened, and Piper had counselled the son of Jupiter to not bring it up with Nico just yet if he went to the infirmary to watch over the son of Hades again. Even that, Piper warned against because it might further inflame Will’s jealousy.

The sable-hared demigod shrugged off the hand on his shoulder, but remained silent. Against his better judgment, Jason started to talk. “Nico, I’m sorry I’m getting in between you and Will…” he said, trying the shoulder-squeezing again, but getting shrugged off more aggressively this time. “I’m sorry for Percy… Look, I’m just… I’m sorry… What can I do to cheer you up?”

There was a muffled response from the smaller boy. Jason stood and craned his neck closer to try and make it out. “… just go, please, Jason. Leave me alone.” Those were the words that the son of Jupiter heard from the son of Hades.

“But, Nico…” protested the golden-haired demigod. He wanted to help. He at least wanted to try to make things a little bit better. He felt more than a little responsible for what had happened. He suspected that Will liked Nico. He should have toned down on the touching and the strange affection that they shared between each other. Before the son of Jupiter could say anything more, however, he was interrupted by Nico shifting on the bed.

The sable-haired demigod rolled over onto his back. Nico’s dark eyes met Jason’s electric blue. Though the son of Hades’ eyes were evidently red from crying, they were, somehow, emotionless, unreadable. “Just, go, Jason. It’s bad enough already… Just, please, stay out of it…” The look of hurt on Jason’s face almost made Nico want to throw up, or retract the statement, but it was true. If Jason meddled, it would only make a bad situation even worse. “Go” said the son of Hades with a tone of finality that made Jason hang his head in defeat and walk out of the infirmary without a single word said in his defense.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *coughs* Woo Annabeth and your sense! BOO NICO AND WILL AND PERCY AND JASON AND YOUR INABILITY TO PROCESS EMOTIONS WELL. *coughsmore*
> 
> I hope you guys liked that chapter! Lou Ellen is a badass in my mind. Oh, and next chapter, Jason's going to ruin all of the building up that Lou Ellen did for Will. XD. HEHEHE. I told you you'd hate me by the end of this.
> 
> As always, my ask box is open for questions for me! Ask me anything and I'll answer as frankly as I can at [Malkuthe Highwind!](http://malkuthe-highwind.tumblr.com/ask) I would love to hear your comments/feedback, so please, leave a comment if you love/hate/it's complicated me. <3\. And leave a kudos if you like the story so far! <3.
> 
> Until Saturday, my dears! See you then. :3


	3. A Regretful Storm

Will was feeling so much better when he left Lou’s cabin that he didn’t even care about Drew and her cronies giggling derisively at him from a little ways down the green. He was walking with a newfound, albeit tentative, confidence in himself. Lou Ellen was right. If he really did want Nico to take him as a partner, then he had to fight for that privilege, and he needed to stop thinking of himself as inferior in every way to Jason Grace. It was just so hard to not feel inferior to the golden boy. The son of Jupiter.

Jason Grace, after all, had not only been praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, he’d quickly risen to influence in Camp Half-Blood as well. Not to mention, he was one of the people that actually _helped_ end Gaea. The son of Apollo shook his head. He couldn’t dwell on Jason’s achievements. It would only make him feel worse about himself. It wouldn’t help his cause to give his heart to Nico and hopefully receive the son of Hades’ heart in return. He held his chin high, keeping the words that Lou Ellen had spoken in his heart. He was _not_ worse than Jason Grace.

Will tried to keep that positive outlook. He _really_ did. Nevertheless, the moment that he saw Jason leaving the Big House, everything Lou had said went right out the window. He took a sharp corner, hoping that Jason wouldn’t see him, but alas, the son of Jupiter did spot him. The golden-haired demigod broke into a run. Will started to run as well. He had no hope in Hades of outrunning the son of Jupiter, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try. Sure enough, not even a minute later, Jason grabbed his arm and he came to a screeching halt.

“What do you want, Grace?” said the son of Apollo, enough acid dripping from his words to make a basilisk swoon. Will turned and violently shrugged Jason’s hand off of his arm. He wished he had his sword. He really did. The inexplicable surge of anger and jealousy inside him was making him incredibly aggressive. Few people knew, Will Solace himself not one of them, that the boy was born to the darker side of his father. Being around Nico di Angelo and feeling spurned by the boy was bringing out the part of him that he did not know even existed.

Apollo, after all, was a vain, and jealous god.

“Will…” said the son of Jupiter softly, his eyes gentle as he looked at the son of Apollo before him. There was an anger, and a heat radiating from Will that made Jason take a step back. He didn’t want to show any sign of aggression. He didn’t want to pick another fight. “Look, Will, I know how you feel about Nico…” said the son of Jupiter, again failing to listen to Piper’s wisdom of not talking about what had happened, or Nico’s plea to keep out of it.

“Oh you do, do you, golden boy?” snarled Will, taking a step forward as Jason took another back. “And what would you do about what you think I feel about Nico?” asked the son of Apollo, growling as he did. “Would you like to rip my heart out and hand it to him on a plate so that you two can laugh at it?” Despite the fact that the son of Jupiter was somewhat taller and bulkier than he was, Will Solace stepped up to him and grabbed him by his shirt. “Why don’t you stay out of it, Grace?”

Jason’s electric blue eyes glittered with hurt and confusion. With every passing moment, it seemed as though Will Solace was getting angrier and angrier and more abrasive. The son of Jupiter placed his hands on Will’s chest and pushed the son of Apollo away. “Where is this aggression coming from, Will?” asked Jason, rubbing his chest where Will’s fingers had inadvertently pinched his skin. “I don’t understand all of this anger…” said the son of Jupiter.

“I told you that you of all people wouldn’t understand, so how about you stay out of my business and my skin, Grace” said Will, stiffly walking past Jason. The words stung, for some reason. He really didn’t. He’d always tried to be the mediator. That was part of the reason that he was now about to be elected _pontifex maximus._ This was part of the reason that he was building shrines for the minor gods. Mediating for his friends, though, it seemed, was far more difficult than he’d expected.

The son of Jupiter grabbed his arm and spun him around. Will was tempted to sock Jason in the face. The bastard just didn’t know how to take a hint, did he? “Are you jealous? I can promise you, Will, I don’t like Nico that way…” That was the only thing that Jason could think to say to help the matter. It didn’t help anything. He watched as greater anger descended over Will’s face, shadowing his eyes. Jason was half-tempted to run away. The animosity radiating from the son of Apollo was intense.

“That doesn’t matter. Not if he _does_ like you that way” growled the son of Apollo, wresting his arm from Jason’s grip and walking away.

“But he doesn’t. He likes _you_ ” said Jason, his voice pleading. Will’s expression just got darker.

“And how would you know that, Grace? He’s probably just scared to tell you that he likes you.”

Never before in his life had Jason Grace felt more powerless than at that moment. Even watching Annabeth and Percy fall into Tartarus was different. He could have tried, but the Athena Parthenos had been more important. This was different. This was dealing with emotions, which he wasn’t particularly good at. He didn’t know what else to say to the two boys to help them. Maybe he should have listened to Piper and not said anything at all. The son of Jupiter sighed and walked back, dejectedly, to his cabin.

\----------

“Are you sure this would work?” asked the daughter of Aphrodite. The idea of planning to get the two together was actually quite exciting for her. She normally didn’t want to get involved too much in other peoples’ relationships, as talking to Reyna about what Aphrodite had been bad enough. Meddling in romantic relationships felt like an invasion of privacy. Piper was pretty sure she wouldn’t have wanted anyone sticking their fingers in her relationship with Jason, but, it was beginning to look like it was _necessary_ for Nico and Will.

“I’m not sure this would work” relented the daughter of Athena. Sure, the plan was fairly straightforward, and she’d already talked to one of the Apollo campers about it. However, since they were dealing with other demigods, and emotions, especially, the plan could work beautifully or go absolutely, horribly wrong before it was even put into action. Annabeth shrugged. “But it’s our best shot. I don’t think that they’re ever going to tell each other about how they feel without being pushed into it. They’re both so shy!” she lamented.

“How are you even so sure that Will Solace is a good match for Nico?” asked Reyna sternly, leaning on her pilum, the point of which was buried into the ground. Her dogs were nowhere in sight, which was probably for the best, as they were probably already conspicuous enough standing to a corner, talking in hushed tones. “If he hurts the son of Hades, I will snap him in half.” Annabeth and Piper laughed as Reyna turned a shade of pink. She’d embraced her feelings of protectiveness over the Italian.

Nico might not like being treated like a fragile thing, but the daughter of Bellona wanted to make sure he found his happiness. Having experienced, though admittedly by proxy, the pain that the son of Hades had gone through had given Reyna a much needed perspective on him. She no longer fought the protective instinct, though Nico probably wouldn’t appreciate it. The daughter of Bellona, out of pure habit, scanned the surroundings. She caught sight of the tail-end of an argument between Jason and Will. “Piper. Your boy is having an altercation with Will.”

The daughter of Aphrodite raised an eyebrow at Reyna before following her gaze and frowning. “I told him not to get involved…”

Annabeth laughed, even though the situation was probably grave enough to not warrant laughter. “He’s a son of one of the Big Three. He’s stubborn and dense and stupid at times.” Reyna nodded. Jason Grace might have been a good and fair praetor, but he had his moments of ill-founded nobility, often causing more trouble than was worth. “Percy has enough trouble letting other people take the burden. I can only imagine how Jason is.” Piper and Reyna simultaneously rolled their eyes. Annabeth started giggling. “I imagine it’s very frustrating.” Again, the two girls nodded at the same time.

“Oh you don’t even know…” said the daughter of Aphrodite, laughing herself after a little while. Jason was walking in their direction, his head hung. He probably hadn’t noticed them yet. Piper glanced at Reyna who then started laughing. “How was he as Praetor?”

“You don’t _want_ to know, Piper” said Reyna, before turning her attention to the approaching son of Jupiter. “Jason!” she called out. It was almost as though she had not said a thing at all. There wasn’t the slightest indication that Jason had even heard or noticed that he was being called. “Grace!” she called again.

This time, the son of Jupiter pitched forward as he tripped over his own foot while trying to look for the source of Reyna’s voice. He spotted the three girls standing by the Hera cabin. Of all the places they could have convened for whatever they were convening, they had to choose Hera’s cabin. Then again, he supposed it was a good place to discuss secrets. Other demigods avoided that cabin as though they would catch a curse just by being nearby. “Hey, Reyna…” said the son of Jupiter, walking up to the three. They all noticed how glum he was.

“Let me guess…” said Piper, planting her fists on her hips. “You screwed up.” Jason nodded slowly, sighing as his shoulders slumped forward. “I told you not to talk about it or get involved!” she said. “I was hoping you would listen to me for once, Jason.” The son of Jupiter at least had the grace to look sheepish.

“Well, anyway, maybe we can use your help” said Annabeth, sharing a meaningful glance with Piper. They’d been puzzling over whom they could use to fetch things for the ‘plan’ without seeming far too conspicuous. With Jason’s powers of flight, they had their answer.

“Why would you want my help?” asked the son of Jupiter, looking crestfallen as he faced the three girls. “I’ve already fucked enough up…” Jason sighed and dropped down onto his haunches, clutching the sides of his head with his hands. “I think I made things worse between the two of them, Pipes” lamented the golden-haired demigod. Piper looked at the two others and dropped down to _her_ haunches, placing a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Nico’s so convinced that Will hates him, and Will is absolutely convinced that Nico likes me…”

“All the more reason that you should help” said Annabeth, after sharing a look with Reyna. They could definitely use Jason to their advantage. “If you want to make it up to either of them, then you should help us. We have a plan. We’re going to get the two of them together. Or at least get them to admit how they feel to each other.” Jason looked up at the daughter of Athena with tentative hope swamped with uncertainty in his eyes. He really wanted to help, but he didn’t know how, nor did he know, at this point if he should.

But the girls said that he could help, so who was he to tell them that their plan was not going to work? It was made by a daughter of Athena, after all. The son of Jupiter made a small smile at three and rose to his feet, helping Piper to hers. “Alright. How can I help?”

\----------

Nico very nearly jumped out of the bed he’d been given when he heard the sound of people arguing as they made their way to the infirmary. Both voices were distinct and identifiable. The son of Hades could tell that one of the voices was Andrew. The other was Will.

There was a knock and a moment of silence as the two went in to talk to Chiron. Then there was more arguing. Andrew was particularly loud about it. Thankfully, Nico could not hear the majority of what was being said, otherwise he would have heard a lot of protestations about Nico being the weird, creepy, and scary Hades kid that Andrew didn’t really want much to do with. In turn, he would have also heard Will getting angrier and angrier at every generalization that the runt of the cabin was making.

Finally, Chiron stamped his hoof on the floor and made his decision, judging from the sound of the voices that came from there. The two demigods stalked into the infirmary, with Will’s hand on the nape of Andrew’s neck. “Nico, you’re free to go” said the son of Apollo stiffly. The Italian gaped at him for a second. He couldn’t know if the golden-haired demigod was being serious or not. He’d _just_ said earlier on in the day that Nico was in no condition to be leaving the infirmary just yet. Tears threatened to spill from Nico’s eyes.

So that was it. Will Solace _did_ hate him for being gay. The son of Apollo dragged his half-sibling to Nico’s bedside. “For the record, Nico, I don’t hate you. I just think you’ve recovered enough to be able to spend the rest of the time recovering in your cabin.” The son of Apollo smiled at the son of Hades, but Nico could see the tightness in his expression. He could also tell that Will was telling the truth, but then that meant that something else had upset him. Nico wanted so much to ask why, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so, terrified of what could have been the answer.

“B-but… I thought…” said the Italian, stuttering as Will sat him up on the bed and handed him a square of Ambrosia. The son of Hades was not aware he’d been so hungry. He scarfed the whole thing down and felt some strength return to his body. Nico looked at the platter of food that Will had brought along with Percy and Annabeth’s arrival. It was untouched. He did not miss the furtive glance at the plate and quick hurt expression that crossed Will’s face before being replaced with a forced cheerfulness.

“Well, I thought you weren’t strong enough, too” said the son of Apollo. Will smiled and handed Nico a thermos of nectar. He gulped that down and felt himself being revitalized from within, the warmth seeping into the rest of his body from his stomach. “But, as you proved when you were able to stand up, you’re strong enough to leave. Although not without support, and definitely not without _further monitoring_.” Andrew was fidgeting by the left corner of the foot of Nico’s bed. “So. Like you said. Three days is up. You’re free to go.”

“But… I won’t be free to go…” said the son of Hades slowly as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Will glared at Andrew and he scampered to help Nico up onto his feet. The smaller of the two sons of Apollo swung Nico’s arm over his shoulder to support the sable-haired Italian. “I still have to deal with your crap for the next gods know how long…” said Nico. He didn’t really mean that. He _wanted_ Will to be there. Or at least a part of him did. He wasn’t going to admit to that, but he still had the right to hope.

“No you won’t” said the head healer, fixing Nico with a discerning gaze. “You’re going to have to deal with this little shit.” The son of Hades followed Will’s finger that was pointing at Andrew. The other son of Apollo gave him a nervous smile and wave of his hand. Nico’s jaw dropped. For a moment he was speechless.

“B-but… Y-you said… Y-you would…” Nico could barely order his thoughts together. Why didn’t Will want to stay with him anymore? Nico’s mind reasoned that it was probably because the head healer had other things to attend to, but somehow the son of Hades found that reasoning quite unconvincing. There was a bitterness hanging about Will that he couldn’t explain. He _really_ wanted to ask, but his voice died in his throat whenever he tried.

“Yeah, well, I’m doing you a favour” said the head healer, moving in to pat Nico on the back but stopping just short. “You won’t have to deal with my _crap_ much longer.” The head healer hefted Nico’s other arm over his shoulders and cocked his head towards the infirmary door. Together, he and Andrew supported Nico out the door.

They went across the green without much trouble, mostly because Nico was far too shocked to say anything. “So. Do you want to go in there?” asked Will. Andrew made a sound of protest but the older child of Apollo glared at him. For the first time Nico looked up. Instead of seeing his cabin — he’d wondered why they’d suddenly stopped when Cabin Thirteen was still a ways away — he saw Cabin One glittering in front of them. “I don’t think Jason’s going to mind if you stayed over for a couple of days.”

There it was again, the bitter bile in Will’s voice. Nico wanted to slap him so hard. He did. Well. He tried. The way his arms were suspended over the backs of the two children of Apollo, the best he could manage was an aggressive tap on Will’s cheekbone. “What the fuck kind of question is that, Solace? What are you implying? I _don’t_ like Jason!” said the son of Hades, suddenly angry.

Will shrugged. “Yeah, right.” Then he snorted derisively. For the first time, Nico entertained the slim hope that maybe Will was being irrationally jealous. It made sense. There was no other reason he would be acting so abrasively towards Nico, and bringing him to the Zeus cabin instead of the Hades cabin. Nevertheless, the mere _thought_ that maybe Will liked the son of Hades back and was jealous because he thought Nico liked Jason was enough to shut the Italian up for the rest of the trip to his cabin. “Have a good night. I’ll see you around. Sometime.”

Will didn’t even bother helping Nico into his cabin. He dropped the son of Hades’ arm from around his shoulders and walked off. The two demigods he’d left behind, Nico and Andrew, watched him walk away stiffly for a few seconds. About twenty paces away from the cabin, Nico’s heart dropped in his chest when Will looked at Cabin One and hung his head. He wanted to run all the way to the son of Apollo and say that maybe he wanted to be a little bit more than friends, but fear kept him back. Then the son of Apollo looked back at the Hades cabin. Seeing that Nico and Andrew were still watching, he frowned and straightened his back, returning to walking stiffly back to the Apollo cabin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! Chapter 3! I hope you liked it! And the tidbit about Will being somewhat born of Apollo's darker side is absolutely a headcanon of mine. :3
> 
> Anyway, I'd like to hear what you think of this chapter and how freaking... vindictive and irrational Will is being. _hint: it may have to do with what's going on with Apollo_. AAAAANYWAY. Leave a kudos if you liked the chapter! COMMENT OR WILL GETS IT! Just kidding.
> 
> See you on Tuesday! Remember, you can leave me asks on my tumblr page: [Malkuthe Highwind](http://malkuthe-highwind.tumblr.com/ask). On another note, I'm still looking for about two/three more betas. So, if you're interested, send me an ask as well!


	4. An Ill-Thought Plan

“Look, I think it’s sweet that you want to stay, but I think you should go. I can take care of him myself” Hazel said to the ratty son of Apollo as he helped Nico into the cabin. She took over for him, noticing that Andrew was more than happy to back away from her half-brother. She frowned. Nico felt ostracized enough. Who had thought it to be a good idea to send a son of Apollo to stay with him and monitor him? Especially one that looked so entirely ill-at-ease around him?

Truth be told, Andrew was more than a little intimidated by Nico di Angelo. He wanted to give the son of Hades a chance, but after seeing Will almost overcome by the armies of skeletal soldiers that Nico was able to summon, Andrew couldn’t quite afford the Italian the same chance to prove himself as something more than his heritage that Will could. He was _terrified_ of the son of Hades. The only reason that he was doing any of this was for Will, because he knew Will liked Nico, and the head healer had framed it as a valuable learning experience. “Doctor’s orders…”

“Excuse me?” asked Hazel, planting her fists on her hips and staring down the son of Apollo. As a daughter of Pluto she was not much lower than Nico on the intimidating scale, but considering how Andrew had witnessed Will cutting down skeletons and beating Percy Jackson in a duel, he was more concerned with pissing his older half-brother off. “As far as I know, you’re not campers of other cabins are not allowed to stay in some other cabins” said the daughter of Pluto as she gently lay her half-brother on the bed. “You can leave. I can take care of my brother.”

“Chiron sanctioned it” said Andrew, though not without much stuttering and trying to not be intimidated. “And Will said that Nico needs a medical professional to watch over him.” On the bed, Nico groaned, as that was exactly something Will Solace would say. Then the son of Hades felt a profound sadness. He buried his face even deeper into his pillow. Great. Just great. He was beginning to think that maybe Annabeth was right and Will did like him back. That was the only way that Nico could explain what had just happened, the sudden abrasiveness of the son of Apollo against him.

“And _you’re_ a medical professional?” said Hazel incredulously. Andrew shrugged and laughed nervously. This ratty kid, a trained medic? The very concept was absurd to the daughter of Pluto. Alright, granted they were demigods and trained in a lot from an early age, and this particular demigod was the son of the god with healing powers, but still, it was a bit difficult to believe. Considering that Andrew still had no beads on his necklace, he was new to camp! Hazel glared at son of Apollo, then asked the million-dollar question. “So why isn’t this Will Solace doing the watching instead?”

“H-he didn’t say…” said Andrew, suddenly even more nervous than before. Even though Hazel scared him, he somehow felt that he could trust her. After all, she seemed to be very protective of Nico. “A-actually…” Andrew squeaked when Hazel took a step closer to him. The son of Apollo swallowed his fear and beckoned her closer so that he could whisper in her ear. Hazel raised an eyebrow but then complied. “H-he likes Nico…” stuttered the runt of the Apollo kids. Hazel looked shocked for a moment, then scandalized, then she blushed.

“I’m right here, you know…” said Nico. He was getting tired of people talking about him in front of him seemingly without realizing that he was right there. “How do you know that he likes me?” asked the son of Hades. The two other demigods turned to look at Nico. The Italian was now sitting up on the bed, clutching his arm, but otherwise alright. “Isn’t Lou Ellen his girlfriend?” asked Nico, a tentative hope in his voice that Andrew would deny that Lou had any romantic relationship with Will. He also wished the son of Apollo would provide some concrete evidence of this attraction for Nico that Will supposedly had.

Andrew stared at Nico for a good moment or two before bursting out laughing. Okay, maybe Nico di Angelo wasn’t as intimidating as he’d thought. The look of utter confusion on Nico’s face was priceless. Hazel, too, was puzzled by the sudden outburst. “No. Gods, no. Lou Ellen is not my older brother’s girlfriend” said Andrew. The very thought of _that_ was absurd. “That’s how I know he likes you, Nico!” The son of Hades frowned. That didn’t make much sense. How did Andrew get that from Will and Lou not being together?

“Okay, okay, let me clarify. _You_ are all he talks about with Lou Ellen, Nico” said the son of Apollo. The small smile that flitted across Nico’s face was brief, but it was enough for Hazel to notice. The daughter of Pluto’s face began to heat up as she realized just what the smile implied. She looked at Nico who looked at her with a panicked expression as he realized what he’d inadvertently revealed. Hazel laughed and sat beside him on the bed, throwing her arms around the Italian’s slender frame and squeezing him with all the affection and comfort she could muster.

“So…” said Nico slowly, the smile slipping from his face as he remembered that Will wasn’t particularly happy with him, or Jason for that matter, at the moment.

“Yes. He has the biggest crush on you.” Then Andrew clapped his hand over his mouth. He realized what he’d just done. He’d blurted out the secret that he had not even had a right to know to begin with. “I-I shouldn’t have said anything! I’m sorry! Please don’t tell Will… He’ll kill me.”

“I won’t… I swear it on the Styx…” said the son of Hades as he pulled away from Hazel’s embrace. He rolled over on the bed and buried his face in his pillow again. “Besides. It’s not like it matters now. I’m pretty sure he’s convinced I like Jason…”

Hazel tried to put her arms around her brother again but Nico just scooted away. “I’ll leave it to you two to figure out how to settle in for the night. I just want to sleep now” came the muffled words of the son of Hades as he started to wallow in his misery again.

\----------

Jason had wanted to get started on preparations for the big ‘plan’ that night, but something all three of the girls had agreed upon was that it was far too late to do anything without risking being eaten by the patrol harpies. The next day saw many things being put into motion. Piper and Reyna had been delegated to go and talk to the Apollo campers about an upcoming bonfire. The very next day. The one that Will would not be presiding over as head counsellor of Apollo. Truth be told, the head healer was not often presiding the bonfires anyway.

For a child of Apollo, Will Solace had pretty minimal musical skills. Annabeth and Jason, on the other hand, were going in pursuit of some much-needed magic. After breakfast, the two demigods visited the Hecate cabin. They had considered asking Hazel, but they’d heard that Nico had been discharged from the infirmary and was now in his cabin. They didn’t want to rouse any suspicion from the son of Hades, not if they needed to. Jason knocked, but it was Annabeth that they had agreed would do the talking. Jason had respectfully given that privilege up to her.

The children of Athena had a way with words. “Hey. Lou Ellen” said Annabeth with a little wave of her hand. “Would you mind if we came in?” she asked politely. The daughter of Hecate raised an eyebrow at the daughter of Athena, trying to figure out what it was that she wanted. Unable to find an answer from just Annabeth’s expression, Lou Ellen stepped aside and beckoned the two of them into the cabin. “Don’t touch anything” said the daughter of Athena to the son of Jupiter before Lou Ellen could make the same warning to Jason.

The daughter of Hecate took a look at the one that Will called ‘golden boy’ and pondered how he would look as a guinea pig. Will made a very adorable one. Jason would probably make a hot guinea pig. If guinea pigs could be hot. Lou Ellen decided against finding out because she didn’t want to suddenly end up with a very attractive guinea pig. “What’s up?” asked the daughter of Hecate, sitting on one of the beds in the cabin and facing Annabeth. Jason sat beside the daughter of Athena, very warily looking at everything in the cabin, trying his best not to disturb anything.

“I was wondering…” Annabeth had to choose her words carefully. She didn’t want to reveal anything that she shouldn’t be revealing, but at the same time, she wanted to get the proper kind of magic for the plan to work. “I was wondering if you had any magic that would force someone to admit their feelings for the person they like.” The daughter of Hecate raised an eyebrow. That was not the first time someone had asked her about such magic. Strangely enough, Will had never asked her for it and she’d respected that fact.

“Why would you want such magic?” she asked, looking first at Annabeth, then at Jason before realizing exactly what they had come to her for. She did have just the spell that they were looking for, but she was not going to give it to them, both on matter of principle, and to respect her friends’ rights to admit to their feelings on their own terms and at their own time. She was pretty sure Will wouldn’t forgive her if he found out that she had charmed him into confessing his undying devotion for Nico di Angelo. On the other hand, she really did want Will to be happy, though.

“Because two of our friends are very convinced that the other either hates them or doesn’t like them when it’s so painfully obvious that they like each other” said Annabeth. “I can’t really tell you who, because… Well, it’s something of a secret…” The daughter of Hecate rolled her eyes. She instinctively knew a lot about magic, and there were many ways to accomplish what the two demigods that had come to her wanted to accomplish, but none of them were particularly great for preserving the privacy of the people involved.

“I know exactly who you’re talking about. That boy is all he ever talks about, after all” said the daughter of Hecate. “And I can see the attraction between them. It’s not my fault they’re both stupid enough, blinded enough by their perceived flaws, to not see that. Will was pretty damn convinced that Nico liked you, Jason Grace” continued Lou Ellen, pointing a somewhat accusatory finger at Jason. Then she levied that same finger at Annabeth. “And what makes you think, daughter of Athena, that you have any right to interfere with their relationship?”

“Because Nico’s been through so much pain! He deserves to be happy! Is it really so bad to use some magic to maybe open his eyes to what is sitting right in front of him?” blurted out the son of Jupiter before Annabeth could say anything. The daughter of Athena frowned at the Jason. He wasn’t helping their cause at all. If anything, he was making Lou Ellen less receptive to the idea of helping them. “I’ve seen how much heartbreak Nico’s been through, okay? I don’t want him to go through any of that all over again, because that’s what he’s doing to himself with all this belief of his that Will absolutely hates him.”

“I know you mean well” said the daughter of Hecate to Jason and Annabeth. She rose from where she sat but instead of collecting ingredients for one of the spells, she walked over to the door and opened it. “But you have no right to meddle in either Will’s or Nico’s love-lives. They will have to do this on their own, you do understand that, right? I may be no daughter of Aphrodite…” Lou Ellen trailed off. “But I know well enough that having other people meddle only makes things worse.”

\----------

“Go get that big brother of yours and tell him that if he fucking wants me monitored, he can fucking do it himself!” shouted Nico, some hours after lunch, while he threw Andrew out of the Hades cabin by the scruff of his neck. To say that his sleep had been disturbed the previous night would have been quite an understatement. Going to sleep with the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, Will actually liked him back but was utterly convinced that he liked Jason had done very little to make his sleep conducive to good dreams.

Nico’s dreams were still better compared to his Tartarus nightmares, but in his dream, he’d been in a strange, bleak and grey place. It had been a long stretch of barren land. He had been chasing another boy, someone who looked suspiciously like Percy. It was like an eternity, the time he spent running after that stranger. He kept getting close, but he never quite got close enough to touch the other boy. He would always either trip or have to rest the moment his dream-person came into range for him to touch with the tips of the fingers of his outstretched arm.

Then, in some twist, without warning the other man had transformed into Will Solace. Will had been easier to catch up to. Nico had only tripped twice. However, just when he was about to grab Will’s shoulder in the dream, he’d been woken from it by the shrill shrieking of Andrew at some hour in the morning that was far too early. There was a skeleton standing over the son of Apollo. Hazel, thankfully, was far more alert than Nico. She shot one of the coins from the altar in the corner at the skeleton which promptly dissolved.

After that, any hope of sleeping had been dashed as the reason Andrew had been shrieking at the skeleton was not because it had woken him up, but because he’d woken up face-to-face with the damn thing. It turned out that Will had wanted Nico to get up early, and by early, apparently he meant at the asscrack of dawn, as the son of Hades vividly remembered looking out the window where the first rays of daylight were turning the darkness of night into the gray of dawn. Even Hazel grumbled in her bed about children of Apollo being up too damn early.

However, Nico wasn’t sure he would have been able to fall asleep if Andrew had let him try afterwards anyway. His mind was simply just whirling with the possibility that Will just might like him back. Well, it had been whirling with those thoughts. Very soon after he’d woken up, his entire consciousness was devoted to a single thought: _“Don’t strangle Will’s younger half-brother._ ”Nico was _very_ sorely tempted to do just that. Between the incessant attempts at smalltalk and his extremely irritating squeaky prepubescent voice, Andrew was a walking nightmare unto himself.

Nico wanted nothing to do with the young spawn of Apollo. No thank you. So, a few hours after lunch, when he had had enough, he had picked Andrew up by the back of his camp half-blood t-shirt, and, surprised at the strength he seemed to have regained after a night at the Hades cabin and an early morning set of thirty laps up and down the space in between the beds, he threw the son of Apollo out and demanded that Will replace him. Fortunately, rather than put up a fight, Andrew scampered off meekly to hopefully do as Nico asked.

The son of Hades turned and walked back into the welcome darkness of the Hades cabin. Hazel was sitting on the bed opposite him and was fanning herself. She was trying her best not to imagine her brother snogging another guy, not because it was repulsive to her, but because she’d found that it was far more arousing than it had any right to be. And _that_ the fact that the idea was getting her all hot and bothered made her want to puke. She might have been in the 21st century, but she was brought up in more conservative times.

“I-If Will is staying over here, I’m going to go and stay with Piper or Reyna…” said the daughter of Pluto as she tried to avoid direct eye-contact with the son of Hades. “Why are you looking at me like that? I am definitely not imagining two boys kissing” she protested, fanning herself even harder as the heat rushed to her face. Thankfully at that moment, Frank walked up to the cabin and knocked. He stuck his head in through the door. “Oh. Frank. No you’re not interrupting anything” said Hazel perhaps a bit too enthusiastically.

The son of Mars raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend before looking at Nico, blushing and quickly looking away. He was _not_ going to think of any weddings any time soon. They were far too young for that, and even though he very much wanted to get married to the daughter of Pluto, he had other responsibilities. And they were far too young for that! “Uhh…” said the praetor, at a momentary loss for words. “Uhh. Oh. Right.” Frank had become more confident as a result of the blessing of Mars, but he was still somewhat shy. “Annabeth asked for you, Hazel.”

“O-oh! Alright! Great! I’ll go with you to her right now” said the daughter of Pluto, her face reddening even more as she desperately tried to chase the image of two boys making out out of her head. Nico raised a quizzical eyebrow at her, mirroring Frank’s expression. “Stop looking at me like that! I am most definitely not thinking of…” she trailed off and looked at the two boys in the cabin. “Nevermind! I’ll see you later, Nico” she said hastily as she stood up, bent down to kiss her brother on the cheek and bolted out the door.

“What did she mean she was definitely not thinking of two boys kiss—!” said Nico, wondering aloud to himself in the sudden silence of the cabin. He cut himself off almost as soon as the words left his mouth and the realization hit him. The son of Hades could have sworn that his entire face was currently on fire. If Will was coming, he had to calm down. He didn’t need Hazel’s tempting imaginings getting him all hot and flustered, especially when he wanted to talk to Will seriously about… No. He wouldn’t be able to admit his feelings. He still wasn’t sure.

Nico didn’t want to say anything until he was absolutely sure that Will liked him back. He didn’t want to risk maybe ruining his friendship with the son of Apollo if Andrew, Annabeth, and the others that thought Will actually liked him were wrong. He also didn’t want to risk getting hurt. He wanted to make absolutely, completely sure, before he said anything. That was probably the only way he would admit his feelings for Will. A small voice in his head reminded him that he had nonchalantly told Percy about his feelings, but then he retorted that that was because he was already mostly over the son of Poseidon that he was able to do that without much regret.

The son of Hades wanted to scream and shout. The situation was just so damn frustrating. He didn’t know whom to believe anymore. As much as he wanted to believe his friends, whom he was sure were just trying to help, there was still that more cynical voice inside of him that kept telling him that as a son of Hades, it would be impossible for anyone to like him back in that capacity.

Minutes later there was a knock on the door. Nico grunted in response. Surprisingly, apparently whoever had been outside had heard him. The door swung open, letting in a flood of daylight that made Nico blink. “You asked for me, di Angelo?” came the now-familiar voice of Will Solace from the doorway. Some part of the son of Hades wanted the son of Apollo to step in through the threshold so that he could see better. “Andrew was a little bit hurt that you threw him out. Literally. His weight’s something of a sore spot for the poor kid.”

“I-I didn’t specify _you_ as the older brother.”

“Yes, you did. I’m the only one in Apollo that’s invested in keeping you monitored.” Will had since calmed down from the previous night. He realized early in the morning as he tossed and turned, unable to sleep that maybe he’d been a little too harsh on Nico. He’d not even given the guy a chance to explain himself, or even defend his position. He’d thrown out the guy he liked from the infirmary just because it so happened that the other guy that the guy he liked liked had gotten on his nerves.

“So, how have you been doing?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! Something lighter for the moment! <3\. I'm sure you'll love me for this calm before the storm, and believe me, what a glorious storm it will be.
> 
> As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on the new chapter! I hope you liked it as much as I did. It's about time we get to see the two boys making progress again. :3. Comment! Please! Or I will hurl Will into an active volcano. Trust me, I would do it. *cackles*
> 
> Anyway! If you have any questions, drop by my tumblr and send me an ask at [Malkuthe Highwind](http://malkuthe-highwind.tumblr.com/ask). Also. If you want a chance to get a taste of what's coming in At the Break of Dawn, I have [this post that explains how](http://malkuthe-highwind.tumblr.com/post/103487179417/preview-of-things-to-come-in-at-the-break-of-dawn).


	5. A Hurt and Injured Sun

“Throw me off of Olympus as though I was as ugly as Hephaestus, would he…” grumbled the god of Music and Prophecy as he trudged his way out of the smoking ring of flattened trees that he had suddenly found himself in. Thankfully, half of his body still seemed to possess some of his qualities, like the fact that he radiated heat, and strength far surpassing that of mortal man. His mortal half, on the other hand, was pathetic. He was alternating between feeling really cold, and really really really warm on the left side of his body, and it was beginning to chafe his nerves a little bit.

Apollo picked one of the fallen trees up and broke it into quarters with one hand, grumbling as he did. “I should have been made the _god_ of Beauty what with my dashing good looks. I’m not so ugly that I deserve getting thrown off of Olympus and reduced to some… abominable combination half-mortal-half-god” he grumbled as he stacked the logs on top of one another and bound them with cord he fashioned from strips of bark. He _still_ maintained much of his godly knowledge, which was good, as he would likely have died within a day or two if he hadn’t.

After he’d built the walls of his cabin, in record time, Apollo shook his fist at the sky. “If this is your idea of a hilarious punishment, Zeus, it is not funny!” he screamed at the top of his lungs as he hurled a log over the top of the walls to form the beginnings of a makeshift roof. It was damn cold in Siberia, and the faster Apollo could build a shelter, the faster he could turn off his heat-production and build a fire to keep his mortal side at the perfect temperature.

The god of Prophecy did not particularly want to have his mortal side’s still-flawless, smooth, and baby-buttcheek-soft skin being damaged in the cold dry air of Northern Russia. The son of Zeus by Leto sighed and hung his head. It wasn’t like any of the Olympians could hear him from here anyway. Alaska was far from the gods of Greece. This place, on the other hand, was a realm of other gods entirely. Apollo wasn’t entirely sure if the gods of this realm were still around or if they had all faded.

“Oh woe is me!” said Apollo, then immediately grimacing afterwards at the really old and cliche poetic expression. Then he shrugged. Not like he was not going to have time to think about new poetry during the tenure of this punishment of his. “Oh woe is me! I don’t even have my ukulele!” The god of Prophecy paused. “Ooh. That rhymed. I might write a book of new couplets while I’m down here!” Apollo snapped his fingers, fully expecting his notebook and pen to appear from thin air. Apparently _that_ part of his godly powers was gone.

“Of all the fucking things, you remove my ability to conjure my fucking notebook?” complained the god of Prophecy, grumping like the teenager that he was currently stuck as. If anyone from Camp Half-Blood had seen him at that moment, they would likely have thought that he was an extremely good-looking, handsome, and dashing son of himself! Of course, then he would have whipped out all his musical talents and rhyming ability, and they would all _adore_ him as they all should. The god of Prophecy blinked and put an end to the fantasy. He wasn’t getting out of Siberia any time soon.

The first order of business was finding out how to survive in the wilderness. Artemis had always been the hunter, but he was not lacking of his own abilities, mostly because his sister had taught him just in case he angered their father enough to get his powers stripped completely from him, which was pretty much exactly what had just happened. Sure, Apollo still had his godly strength, his godly ability to produce heat, and his invincibility, but it was all isolated to the right half of his body — thankfully not including his face, — that glowed eerily whenever he exerted his divinity too much.

Unfortunately, as much as he had increased endurance for a mortal, using the powers of his godly side were very energy-intensive. As soon as he’d finished building the shelter and setting traps, he’d fallen flat on his back, absolutely tired. Of course, since this was a punishment from Zeus, that would be the exact moment that another god decided to come to his side. Hephaestus, of all people. The god looked at Apollo, tilted his head and frowned. “I would’ve thought you would have looked… uglier. Cripple-ier.”

The son of Zeus by Leto scowled at his step-brother who looked as ugly as ever. “Well excuse me for not being you, Hephaestus.” The god of the Forge rolled his eyes and slammed a familiar machine onto the ground in the middle of Apollo’s makeshift shack. “What in Gaea’s name are you doing, bringing this damnable thing here?” Of course Zeus would add insult to injury by leaving Apollo with a symbol of his failures. He still hadn’t figured out how to work the instrument that that damnable Leo Valdez had invented. But of course, having been the god of Music, he would have figured it out eventually.

“Hey, my son did fine work on it, if I say so myself” said the god of the Forge, moving levers, twisting dials, and doing all sorts of things like Leo had done when he’d first played the instrument. There was one subtle difference. This time, the machine belted out something that sounded like heavy metal, which was very fitting as it was made almost entirely of Celestial Bronze. “Oh that is _good_!” said Hephaestus. “Wish I could have it after I had to fix it after Zeus smashed it up.”

Apollo rolled his eyes. That was such a father dearest thing to do. Smash everything that belonged to anyone that displeased him. “Lord Zeus seems to be far more worked up about this than normal, though. What did you do, Apollo?” asked the Blacksmith God. “He was rambling about some stupid, clearly fake prophecy. I thought your gift wasn’t working?” Hephaestus looked around the cabin and smirked. It was really shoddy engineering. Hephaestus was fairly certain that with enough time, he could find a single point in the ‘house’ that if he applied the right amount of pressure to, the entire house would fall apart.

“I helped my son try and get with the object of his affections” said the son of Zeus by Leto. “That’s all I’m guilty of, you know. Prophecies don’t really work like father thinks they do. I didn’t _let_ the prophecy be spoken. It just _happened_. And okay, maybe I let that rat Octavian get to my head, but it was just because I had so many good qualities to praise that he was able to!” The god of Prophecy said with a voice clearly imploring for mercy and sympathy and compliments. Hephaestus rolled his eyes.

“As for that prophecy, I thought it was blocked too. Apparently for that moment, Python wanted me to speak that prophecy.” Apollo frowned. Now that he thought about it, it made very little sense that Python let him speak that prophecy. Perhaps it was to divide the gods again, but Apollo knew firsthand that they already were. He and Artemis already stood on one side against Zeus. The son of Zeus by Leto was fairly certain that the only reason his twin sister had yet to visit him was because she was doing her duty and driving the chariot of the moon, and preparing to drive the chariot of the sun. “Do you want to hear the prophecy?” asked the god of Music.

“No! Olympus, no,” said Hephaestus, taking two steps back from Apollo as though he posed a threat in his state of diminished strength, power, and divinity. “Zeus has expressly forbidden knowledge of it.” The ugly cripple shook his head and walked over to the machine that his son had built. “I came here to tell you that Zeus has cursed you to be unable to leave this forest until you’re able to play this machine with the same beauty and harmony that my son was able to.”

Apollo scowled at Hephaestus. “I’m sorry, brother” said the god of the Forge, frowning himself. “The King’s prerogative to cast you down here and strip you of half of your divinity was unnecessarily cruel, this curse even more so, but your father is still Lord on Olympus. I dare not disobey his wishes” the cripple smiled. “I’ve been thrown off of that damnable mountain twice already. I don’t want to experience it a third time. So do believe me. I am sorry, but I cannot help. Oh, and your engineering skills suck.”

Before the god of the Forge vanished, he pressed on one particular, indistinct log. Three seconds later, the entire building fell apart. The last sound that Apollo heard from Hephaestus was derisive laughter. At least the valdezinator had not been damaged. Gods knew Apollo would never have been able to fix it if that had happened. As he staggered to his feet to begin rebuilding, he muttered under his breath. “Sure, you couldn’t help. I could have accepted that. You didn’t have to bring my fucking cabin down. I spent hours on this thing!”

\----------

“Remind me why I have to do this at such an unholy hour, again, Solace?” demanded the son of Hades as Will quietly goaded him on to making more laps up and down the space between the beds. The presence of the head counselor of Apollo had been a welcome change from Andrew’s, especially now that the healer had calmed down and was not as abrasive as he had been the night before. “I understand having exercise. That’s well and good.” Nico made a face in the dim light of the dawn. It was a good thing he could see well in darkness.

“But for fuck’s sake, Will, why so early?” Nico had been feeling much better ever since being discharged from the infirmary. Unfortunately it seemed that Will had put him down for a steady diet of just enough ambrosia and nectar to heal him but not enough to make him spontaneously burst into flames. It was an unfortunate thing, for the son of Hades, as he had very few pleasant memories associated with food. If anything, the ambrosia tasted like the food he’d eaten at camp immediately following the end of the war with Gaea.

There were, however, two things in particular that Nico was a hundred percent sure ambrosia would never taste like for him: pomegranates and anything corn-based. The former because memories of being trapped in a bronze jar with stagnant air and nothing but pomegranate seeds to eat to remain in a death trance to survive were not particularly pleasant. The latter, because Nico di Angelo had had absolutely _enough_ of being turned into plants. He had been turned into a dandelion by Persephone during a spat, and then, the latest case, which had only added insult to injury, was getting turned into a corn plant by Triptolemus.

“Because it’s better to do these things early on in the day when there’s no one to bother you and so that you’ll have more of the rest of the day to do other things that you would like to do” said Will. He’d already filed his feelings for Nico away into a corner of his mind. Truth be told, however, he still didn’t quite understand how Nico could go from sleeping like an angel to groggy, frazzled, and grumpy like a demon when woken up in the morning without compromising his endearing qualities. It was baffling.

There was a long pause from Nico as he walked two laps up and down the space between the beds. It was dreadfully tedious and boring work, but with Will goading him on, it was much less so. Mostly because he spent more time arguing with Will rather than thinking about how stupidly boring this idea of ‘exercise’ was. He reached the end of another lap. “But I do have someone who is bothering me…” he said. There was a long, pregnant silence as he completed yet another lap. “His name is Will Solace and he is the most insufferable child of Apollo’s I’ve ever known.”

“But…” protested the golden-haired demigod. He was not the most insufferable descendant of Apollo.

“No, Octavian wasn’t a child of Apollo. He was a Legacy. So… He does not count!” said the son of Hades, noting the twinge of guilt that crossed Will’s face in the darkness. Nico continued to walk up and down the space between the beds, though he could barely stand it now that Will had fallen silent. It was at that moment that the Italian decided that while it was annoying to have Will talking all the time, his silence was even more discomfiting.

“When we were shadow-travelling the Athena Parthenos halfway around the world, we stopped at Portugal. Well, really, we _ended up_ in Portugal.” Will raised his eyebrow in the dim light at the son of Hades, curious as to where this was going. Nico hadn’t been very open about many things, but it seemed as though he was starting to trust Will just a little bit more. “There was a ghost of a monk there, and he led me to this chapel made out of the bones of monks.” Will looked like he was going to be sick.

“I know! That’s what I thought so too. Now that I think about it, though, that place was so awesome!” Hazel groaned on the bed beyond the curtain dividers and Nico sheepishly apologized for being so loud. He looked at Will. The son of Apollo was looking directly at him, though Nico suspected that Will just had his ears trained on the small noises that Nico was making as he walked. “Anyway” Nico cleared his throat with a cough. “My dad appeared to me.” In the dim light, the son of Hades blushed, remembering that his father had wanted him to be an exception to the rule that his children would lead sad lives.

“He told me that there are some deaths that could not be prevented. That _should_ not be prevented.” There was only silence from Will, but Nico could see the contemplative look on his face. “He said that I more than anyone should understand that. As though just because I’m his son, I would understand his domain. I may be a child of Hades but I’m not that big on the whole people I know dying thing. I don’t like it. I still feel bad about Octavian.”

“I do, too,” said Will as though that had not been immediately obvious from the way he’d been acting. “I just wish I could have stopped him. I mean, that runt was an annoying fucker.” Nico couldn’t help but chuckle at the expense of someone that had already passed on. He felt even worse afterwards. “But, he was, as distant as he might have been, still family.” The son of Hades nodded. On an intellectual level, he understood Will’s misgivings. He didn’t emotionally understand it, though. His family, immediate or extended, was relatively limited.

“Yeah… But, you know, when I feel really bad about it, I ask myself if Gaea would have been defeated if Octavian hadn’t given his life.” Will grunted. Sure, maybe the shot would have come too late if Octavian had taken the time to untangle himself from the rope, but that did not mean he had to like it. “Will, maybe we shouldn’t be thinking about the person that died in the battle against Gaea… Maybe we should think of how many demigods Octavian saved on that day instead?” Nico didn’t want to take any credit for saving people by letting Octavian die. It just felt _wrong._

“Yeah…” said Will, tentatively. He couldn’t deny the validity of what Nico had just said, and it certainly felt lighter on his conscience to think of things that way. Octavian might have been meant to die, after all. Maybe instead of moping about how Octavian had met his end in a great ball of fire, they had to recognize the fact that he had saved a lot of people. “You’re right. That makes sense.” A small smile played on Will’s lips. Nico could see it, and it made his heart flutter that he’d been able to help.

“Anyway. Get back on the walking. Two hundred more laps! You’re slacking, Nico!” And just like that, the smile on Nico’s face was gone, replaced by an annoyed grumbling at Will’s inexplicable capacity for being annoying. “Hey, don’t make those noises at me. You’re the one that said you wanted to be up on your feet as soon as possible” said the son of Apollo with a chuckle.

“I never said that! I just wanted to leave the infirmary!” Will rolled his eyes where he sat on Nico’s bed. There was another groan of frustration from beyond the curtain as Hazel rolled over and tried to block out the two boys.

\----------

“Lou Ellen was right you know…” said Jason. He was having misgivings about this grand plan of theirs. The demigods involved had met for another meeting after breakfast. There were five of them now. Hazel had had to tell an irate squirrel, praetor Frank Zhang, really, to go away because they were having a private talk. Annabeth glared in the direction that Frank went afterwards, as Percy was standing right there with an annoyed look on his face. Fortunately, Will and Nico had yet to leave the Hades cabin.

Piper shared a meaningful look with her boyfriend. Of course she understood where the daughter of Hecate was coming from. She was right, there was no denying that. “We don’t really have any right to be messing with the natural development of their relationship…” said the son of Jupiter, looking at Reyna and Hazel for backup. Annabeth was adamant about this being the best thing to do for the two demigods that were the target of their scheme, but Jason was starting to have second thoughts. He was still going to help, but he didn’t know if it was the wisest thing to do. He was beginning to think that Percy was rubbing off on Annabeth.

“Look, I understand your misgivings—” Jason raised an eyebrow at the daughter of Athena. Did she really? “—but we have to face facts. Who wants to make Nico happy?” To Jason’s surprise, Reyna’s hand shot up into the air faster than anyone else’s, although they all raised their hands at Annabeth’s question. There was no contesting the fact that they wanted to see their friend happy. “And who has seen how stubborn and hardheaded Nico can be?” again, Reyna was on top of her game and was the first to raise her hand.

“But what does that matter?” asked Jason. “If they can’t come to this on their own will their relationship really be _theirs?_ ” The son of Jupiter looked at Piper, who smiled genially at him. Surprisingly she had yet to speak. For a daughter of Aphrodite she was biting her tongue really well when it came to this matter. “It’s why after the war with Gaea, Piper and I kind of wanted to have a new start. Because whatever we had before… It was all a trick of the Mist” said Jason.

A sad look crossed Piper’s face, but it was true. She’d come to terms with that now. The memories of that old, false life, while mostly gone, were still lingering in the back of her mind. “I agree with Jason and Lou Ellen” said the daughter of Aphrodite, finally piping up. “Under normal circumstances we might not have the right to do anything at all. But” she looked apologetically at Jason who looked crestfallen. “But these aren’t normal circumstances. We’ve seen how difficult Nico finds it to trust anyone. Who’s to say it won’t take years before they open up to each other?”

“I mean, I don’t know Will at all, and I only know Nico a little bit, but I’m pretty sure that they’re both just… afraid of each other.” Piper frowned and looked at the ground. She’d become a far more confident girl than she had been for much of the journey through the ancient lands. After the whole Khione fiasco she had a formidable strength about her. “Besides, it’s not like Aphrodite hasn’t directly meddled in the affairs of mortals falling in love before, right?” she said, tentatively and nervously. She knew the reasoning was at best vacuous.

“Yeah,” said Jason sarcastically, earning him a sharp look from his girlfriend. “And we all know how well that went” he said. It was the beginning of the rivalry between the Romans and the Greeks. The Trojan war. “A couple millennia of bad blood between the Romans and the Greeks. No offense, Piper, but just because your mom does it, doesn’t mean it’s right. The gods are as flawed as we are.” All five demigods’ eyes shot up at the sky, expecting Jason to get struck down by some god that happened to be listening. It did not happen.

“I know, I know…” said Piper. “But we have to try, right? We at least owe it to Nico to help him find happiness after all he’s been through on our account…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Update on Apollo. Conversation between Nico and Will. Jason having misgivings about the 'plan.'
> 
> How much worse can things get? :3. So this chapter is a bit slower. Things pick up really quickly next chapter, so hold on to your seats, ladies and gentlemen! I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please leave comments. Anyway, as always, if you have questions, drop me an ask on my tumblr [Malkuthe Highwind](http://malkuthe-highwind.tumblr.com/ask)!
> 
> I'm going to be somewhat less active for the next little while as I prepare for my university finals, so if I don't respond quickly, you can rest assured I'm doing something school-related.


	6. Shadowflight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter's late! I was working on making it extra special. :3.

The plate of food from the dining pavilion that had been piled high just two minutes earlier was now almost half-empty. Will Solace was sitting on Hazel’s bed, the dividing curtains drawn aside so that the two demigods could talk without a layer of cloth acting as a barrier between them. Nico di Angelo had not realized just how hangry he was, nor had he realized that his stomach could fit so much food. Will’s expression, to say the least, was bemused. Nevertheless, he kept at a respectful distance away from Nico, complying with the son of Hades’ dislike of physical contact.

Will had only touched Nico once: right after the whole exercise kerfuffle earlier, at the crack of dawn. The son of Apollo had insisted on it. Diagnostic touch, he’d called it. Of course, those words were followed by the phrase that was increasingly growing on Nico: “doctor’s orders.” Will was satisfied with the pace and progression of Nico’s recovery. In fact, he was quite surprised that the Italian was doing so well so quickly after practically being on the brink of oblivion. Then again, Will should never have underestimated Nico’s strength and ability to persevere in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

Inside, however, Will was jumping up and down with the knowledge that he’d been able to help Nico heal. Not only that, but he was overjoyed knowing for certain, or at least with a lot of certainty, that the guy he had had the biggest crush on, for the longest time, would not be fading into nonexistence any time soon.

Will lifted a satchel onto Hazel’s bed. It was filled with two thermoses of Nectar and about a week’s worth of ambrosia. He wanted to make absolutely sure that Nico was recovering properly. He was not going to take any chances.

When Nico was done eating the mortal food, the son of Apollo shoved squares of the food of the gods at him. “Eat up, Nico” said Will as Nico angrily chewed on a rather sizable mouthful of food, swallowing it with much difficulty. Nico opened his mouth to protest the ambrosia, and, surely, nectar that would follow, but Will silenced him with an odd motion of his wrist.

It was a flicking motion. Nico was certain that there was no magic involved, but the movement was so strange that he instantly fixated on it and lost his train of thought. It almost looked as though Will’s hand was going to snap off of his arm.

“No, you’re not going to explode from all the food” said Will, as though reading Nico’s mind. Will took out the thermos of nectar and carefully measured out a dose for his indubitably favourite patient sitting on the other bed. “Trust me, I’m a medical professiona—” Nico swallowed the square of ambrosia in one go and scowled at Will.

“No, you’re not!” blurted out the Italian, his scowl deepening at Will. “Just because you like wearing a surgeon’s… whatever the hell that thing is called… and going around healing people doesn’t make you a medical doctor. Healer, yes—” Nico’s voice suddenly went rather soft. “—A damn good one at that—” Will barely heard it, but he grinned nonetheless. Nico blushed. “But you’re not a doctor! Don’t you need, like, a license for that?”

“Shush!” The pout that Will graced Nico with would have been enough to make a duck blush. “I totally am!” Nico grimaced. He had to admit, Will’s pouting was somewhat endearing and adorable. Did he just think it was adorable? No. It was absolutely not adorable. Nico blinked, trying to will the unwelcome thoughts away, but unable to prevent the blush that crept up his face.

“Anyway… I know how much a stomach could hold…” Will frowned. That came out wrong. “Don’t ask how I do. Just. If anyone asks… Blame the Stoll brothers, okay?”

Nico raised an eyebrow at Will. Nope. He did not want to know how Will, for one, got hold of a human stomach, and two, managed to fill it enough over capacity to get it to actually explode. Truth be told, however, there was a part of Nico that was filled with morbid curiosity about the concept. Still, it was quite strange coming from Will.

Will noticed the rather disturbed look on Nico’s face and realized just what he had implied. “No! No! No! It’s not like that! Gods! The Stoll brothers did not steal a human stomach from a cadaver out of curiosity!” he protested. “It was a documentary! The Stolls kind of rigged up a television in the Hermes cabin and we saw this really cool but disgusting documentary on the science of hunger…”

Here it was again, one of Will Solace’s infamous tangents. “Anyway, they showed htis one guy with a disease that meant he was always hungry, no matter how much he ate!” Nico rolled his eyes. He had not thought Will would be one to like documentaries, but then again, he was one to talk with his fixation on pirates. Okay. Maybe they both had weird obsessions with weird things. It was perfectly fine! “Like that guy that Demeter cursed. Uhh…” Will trailed off, trying to think. “What was his name?”

Will snapped his fingers as he tried to remember. Nico raised an eyebrow at the mannerism. “E… E… Eri-something!” Nico rolled his eyes. “Oh! Oh! Erysichthon!” Will made a face. “What a mouthful. But yeah, that guy! Anyway, the person on the documentary said that he always had to watch how much he ate because otherwise he could literally eat himself to death. Then, to demonstrate how much that would take, the directors of the documentary filled a human stomach to full capacity!”

All of a sudden, the ambrosia in Nico’s hands didn’t look very appetizing. He grimaced and made a face at Will. The healer sheepishly apologized. “Sorry for the mental image… I guess I got carried away!” he said, far too cheerily for someone that had just described a rather morbid situation. “But trust me, you are nowhere near in danger of blowing up because you ate too much!”

Nico wondered, for a moment, what would happen if he actually did die because of eating too much. Nico could just imagine his father’s shame. ‘Son of Hades, killed by ruptured stomach from over-eating,’ all the tabloids of Olympus would say. Nico was pretty sure that Persephone would have a good laugh about it, and probably Hera too because Hera was a royal pain.

“Yaay” said Nico dryly, swallowing the last of the ambrosia and downing the nectar with a little effort.

There were a few pregnant minutes of silence between the two demigods as Will tried his best not to stare at Nico, and Nico tried his best to not look too uncouth as he belched every so often, patting his stomach and trying to keep everything down. Normally, he would not have eaten so much, but the moment that Will had come in with the food, ravenous hunger had overtaken him, the likes of which he had not really felt before. Not even in the bronze jar with notihg but pomegranate seeds to fill him.

“So…” said Will, shattering the silence into a thousand tiny little pieces. “You liked Percy Jackson, huh?” Nico shot Will a baleful glare. Will held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I didn’t mean anything by it!” he insisted. “I’m… I like y—I like guys, too” he whispered, face reddening. He’d been _so_ close to admitting his feelings for Nico. He made a strangled sound. His voice was caught in his throat.

Nico rolled his eyes and said, dryly, “Glad I’m not the only one.” Truthfully, however, inside his heart was jumping up and down in his chest, trying to break out of his ribcage to wrap its arms around Will. Granted, that would probably send the son of Apollo screaming for the hills if it actually happened, but a part of Nico, tiny as it was, wanted to see it happen.

Nico also wasn’t comfortable with the word gay. Thinking about himself as _that_ still made him cringe a little inside. He didn’t show it, but he appreciated that Will had not used the word. It had meant a very bad thing when he was young and growing up in far more conservative times. Some of his memories had returned. Unfortunately, many of them were rather unpleasant. He just hadn’t yet gotten over the prejudice of the time that he’d come from. Nico’s eyes widened and he asked, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, “You mean you’re not with Lou Ellen?”

Just like every fucking person that Nico had asked that question of, Will Solace started laughing as though there was nothing funnier in the world to hear than an accusation of him having a relationship with the daughter of Hecate. “Oh gods, no, Nico” he said, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. “She’s my best friend” said the son of Apollo, wiping tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes. “But enough about me and Lou Ellen. Percy?”

Nico simultaneously scowled and grimaced at Will. “I was young and stupid, okay?” grumbled the son of Hades, making a face at no one in particular. He didn’t really want to relive those days of endless pining after Percy, but at the same time, hating himself for having those feelings and being entirely too afraid to face them.

Nico looked at Will. He realized that he was getting better at the ‘facing his feelings’ part, but not really by that much. He wasn’t getting much better at the whole ‘accepting them’ part, though. He still was in denial about how much he wanted to _be_ with Will, but he wasn’t going to admit that to anyone, any time soon.

“And you aren’t, now?” A fork went sailing through the air at Will’s head. It had been thrown with such force that it whistled past Will’s ear. “I’m just saying, Nico. You’re the one that summoned a group of skeletons despite ebing told you would fade if you did any more Underworld-ly stuff.” Will laughed as he ducked under another utensil projectile. This time a knife clattered against the far wall.

There was a moment of silence between them. “You know I don’t really like Jason, right?” Nico didn’t know what had possessed him to say that, but he clapped his hands over his mouth as soon as he’d blurted out those words. The silence fell again. The levity of the situation evaporated into nothing. “I mean, we’re close and good friends and all…”

Nico blushed, pink creeping onto his cheeks. “At least I hope we are…” Nico shook his head, wanting to get back into the meat of the subject. “But I don’t really like him that way. Even if I did, I wouldn’t act on it. He already has Piper, after all…” Nico looked at Will, unaware that he was somewhat biting his lip. He was hoping that Will would get the hint.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like Will did. Or at least, Will didn’t let on that he did. “Okay, Nico” he said, perhaps a bit too stiffly. “But I don’t see what that has to do with me…” he continued in the same tone, even though deep within he was ecstatic.

Nico didn’t like Jason! Lou Ellen had been right! Will wanted to run over to Nico’s side of the cabin, pick him up, spin him around, and kiss the shit out of him. He wanted so badly to confess that he had had the biggest crush on Nico for the longest time, and wanted nothing else in the world than to be his partner, but despite the rapid thumping of his heart, fear and uncertainty held him back. “I mean” said Will. “That’s great you have close friends and all, but I really don’t get what it has to do with me.”

Nico, on the other hand, was devastated. His face fell with the temperature of the room. “N-nothing” he stammered out. “Nevermind,” he just barely managed to say. “I-I-I’m going to go and get some fresh air.”

Will’s heart thumped even harder in his chest. He saw the expression change on Nico’s face, and he instantly knew that he’d done something wrong. Will jumped to his feet. “Here let me…” Before he could do anything, Nico was already out the door and gone. “Help you…” Fuck! Will hit himself in the head. He was stupid!

“Be… careful…” he called out, in the silence of the cabin, to no one in particular. Sighing, Will walked up to the door and poked his head out to look for Nico. The son of Hades was walking rather briskly away from his cabin, bumping, literally, into Lou Ellen as he went, his head ducked between his shoulders.

Will had to wonder where Nico was going. Then, he waved at Lou Ellen. The daughter of Hecate took one quick look at Nico, frowned, then looked at Will scowling as she walked up to the front door of the Hades cabin. “Will Solace, did you fuck up again?”

\----------

“Is everything ready for operation lovebirds?” asked Annabeth in a hush as she, Percy, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Reyna huddled together in an inconspicuous corner, though the fact that they were conspicuously huddled together in a corner to begin with already defeated the purpose.

They had all just seen Nico leave the Hades cabin in a hurry, his head hung, shoulders shaking somewhat, as though he was crying. Judging from the boy’s body language, the demigods had unanimously come to the conclusion that the situation between Nico and Will was escalating. If anything, their plan had to be accelerated.

Percy and Frank nodded. They’d gotten the other campers to promise to stay away from the bonfire, sometimes with brute force. Only the people involved in the plan and the Apollo campers would be present at the bonfire. They’d made sure of it.

Chiron, on the other hand, did not necessarily approve of this little scheme of Annabeth’s, but he had decided to leave the demigods to it as he had more pressing matters to deal with. Mr. D was giving him a headache, though it was probably only because Dionysus was also having a headache of his own.

Neither of the two immortals could contact Olympus properly. Iris messages seemed to be available only for the gods that were currently outside of Olympus. There was a static-y veil surrounding the Seat of the Gods, according to the messenger goddess. She had been distraught when Chiron contacted her.

Chiron, Iris, and, in a rare moment of lucidity, Dionysus, had come to the agreement that they would spend the night trying to contact every minor god and deity that had homelands outside of Olympus and see if those could be reached. They were also going to try and contact some of the Olympians, in the hope that perhaps some of them had insight as to what had happened on Olympus. Calling Olympus at the moment was tantamount to calling an answering machine. It didn’t help one bit.

“Honestly, though, Annabeth, that is the cheesiest name you have ever come up with for a secret plan.” Annabeth turned scarlet and punched Percy in the arm. Now, Jason had learned the hard way that Annabeth’s strength was definitely not to be underestimated. Not that he was ever in the business of underestimating girls’ strength. After all, he personally knew Reyna, and if anyone could knock a guy out in one blow, it was her.

Nevertheless, Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, so Jason had not expected much physical strength from Annabeth, but he’d been wrong. Percy rubbed his upper arm and frowned at his girlfriend. “Ow! What was that for? I was just saying! You could at least have thought of some greek name for lovebirds. Ow! Stop it!”

“Shut up, seaweed brain” retorted Annabeth, glaring at her boyfriend.

Jason and Piper shared a meaningful look. They both agreed that while the terms of endearment that Annabeth and Percy had for each other were somewhat adorable at times, they were also annoying and sickly sweet most of the time. Jason and Piper had sworn to each other that they would never use such shameful terms of endearment, though Jason was _very_ sorely tempted to call Piper ‘beauty queen’ if only to annoy her and keep the memory of Leo alive.

“The spell should be easy enough to cast…” said Hazel, a little bit of uncertainty creeping into her voice. “It’ll be easy enough to manipulate the Mist to make it seem as though the bonfire is being attended by the entire camp, but I don’t know about the truth-speaking part…” Hazel trailed off. “I’ll have to talk to the Apollo kids again to make absolutely ure. They said it could probably be done, but we’re not 100% sure.”

Annabeth sighed. That wasn’t what she was expecting. That wasn’t the answer that she wanted. Everything had to go perfectly right or disaster of epic proportions could strike. “Piper?” she asked, turning to the daughter of Aphrodite.

“I’ve been practicing the song…” said Piper, trailing off and looking at Jason, frowning. Jason blushed, suddenly pretending to be interested in keeping his glasses clean. “And Jason has confessed undying love to me seven times already since lunch” Piper’s cheeks all of a sudden blossomed with pink. “I think it’s working. I don’t know if it’s going to work on Nico and Will, though. They’re not as close to me as I am to Jason, and even then, Jason has good reason to confess to me.” The look on Jason’s face was rather sheepish.

Again, not exactly what Annabeth wanted to hear. Then again, it would all have to do. Not all plans would be perfect in their execution. In fact, no plans would be perfect in execution. One of the pieces of wisdom she’d learned over the years was that no plan survived contact with the enemy, or targets, in this case.

“Jackson, if you forgot anything, by the gods, I will _gut_ you” said Reyna, scowling. She didn’t like the plan, but it was Nico’s best shot at happiness. Wasn’t it?

“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t go catastrophically wrong” said Jason, a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. The hairs on the back of his neck stood. He had a feeling that they were forgetting something. Something very, very important.

\----------

Of all the people that they could have forgotten to ask or threaten not to go to the bonfire, Percy Jackson and Frank Zhang could not have picked worse than Lou Ellen. Lou Ellen was with Will when Andrew ran up to the Hades cabin and told them about the big bonfire, as had been planned.

Will thought it was a good idea to maybe get Nico better acquainted with Lou Ellen. The daughter of Hecate shrugged, and accepted the invitation before walking off back towards her cabin. Not to mention, he thought it would be a good opportunity to maybe try and sneak a confession into a conversation.

Will looked around for a moment, trying to figure out where Nico was, but couldn’t find him. Sighing, he walked back into the Hades cabin and sat down on Nico’s bed. A few minutes passed. Suddenly, the door swung open. Nico was standing outside. Looking a bit unsteady on his knees and rather flustered.

Nico didn’t say a word to Will, but he did let the healer support him as he made his way back to his bed. Then, Nico lay down, breathing ragged. “Hey, Nico…” said Will, softly as he walked over to the door to close it. Nico looked at Will. The son of Apollo’s golden-blond hair almost seemed to glitter in the sunlight before he closed the door, plunging the cabin into mostly darkness, save for the lights in the torches.

“I was thinking…” said Will, trailing off for a moment, judging Nico’s expression as he went to sit on Hazel’s bed. “Maybe you, me, and Lou Ellen could go to tonight’s bonfire together?” he asked, tentatively. “You know, get to know each other a little bit… I really do want to be your friend.”

“ _Just a friend,_ ” Nico thought to himself bitterly. He should have known. Nico grumbled unintelligibly, but, much to his own, and Will’s surprise, he said “Yeah, sure, whatever. Might as well.”

Maybe it was the fact that he’d resigned himself ot being infatuated with someone that didn’t like him back like he’d hoped and suspected, but Nico didn’t really feel in a very argumentative mood. When Will practically asked him out, the implications had escaped him. He just said yes to be polite, and so that Will wouldn’t bother him with bullshit reasons as to why he should do it.

“Oh, okay! That’s great!” said Will, though the enthusiasm in his voice was somewhat muted. The smile on his face was uncertain. Nico’s attitude had shifted, and not for the better.

Nico rolled onto his side, his back to Will, and said, “If you don’t mind… I’ll take a nap.”

\----------

Later that evening, right before the bonfire was supposed to start, Will opened the door for Lou Ellen. Nico had just woken up a few minutes ago, and was playing with his hair, trying to get it to fall just the way he wanted it to. Lou waved at Nico and giggled, watching the Italian adorably run his fingers through his air, scowling when they got inevitably tangled up.

Nico waved back when he was done, feeling somewhat better now compared to how he’d felt when Will told him that Nico not liking Jason was not really relevant to him. To Nico, that had been pretty much confirmation that Will didn’t like him back, but for some odd reason, in a way that he never had for Percy, there was some significant part of Nico that still held on to hope.

“Come on,” said Will, beckoning Nico up from the bed. The son of Hades complied, though not without much grumbling and gnashing of his teeth. Lou Ellen found it adorable and giggled again. “Alright. You feeling okay?” asked Will tenderly, walking up rather close to Nico, who backed away from the proximity.

Nico was at least steady on his feet. He was pretty sure that he could survive a short bonfire thing, as long as he wasn’t expected to get up and start dancing because one, that would be terrifying, and two, he would probably fall over instantly. “Are you really feeling up for this?” asked Will, concern laced through his voice.

Nico nodded. “Yeah, I am.” He said. “Do you want me to go, or do you want me to stay, Will?” he asked. “Because I am good with both, though I like the idea of staying better.” Nico scowled at Will. He did not enjoy the constant hovering. Okay. Maybe he did. A little. He wasn’t going to admit that to Will any time soon, though. He didn’t want an over-protective mother hen lurking over his shoulder all the time.

Regardless, Nico was now stronger. He did not need to be fretted over like a child just learning to walk for the first time. It had been a long while since he’d failed at standing up in the infirmary. He could walk well enough already. He was far enough along his recovery for that.

“No, I do want you to go” said Will. “I think some fresh air will do you a lot of good” he continued, holding the door open for Lou Ellen, then Nico. Nico didn’t stumble, but his steps were somewhat slow and measured. He _had_ after all, just woken up and was still adjusting to walking upright again.

The ragtag trio made their way across the green to the campfire. Nico couldn’t help but feel like a third wheel as Will and Lou Ellen chattered about inanities. A bitter resentment settled in his gut. He didn’t like it one bit that he was being involuntarily excluded.

Will kept trying to involve Nico, but his answers were always curt and difficult to respond to. This Nico was so different from the Nico that he’d come to know over the last few days, it was astonishing. In truth, Nico juts didn’t really feel like talking. Well, that, and he was around someone who was pretty much a stranger. He didn’t really feel comfortable.

Nico also didn’t want to talk because he felt out of place. The more he fel tout of place, the less he wanted to talk. It was a vicious cycle. Nico felt especially bad when Lou Ellen whispered something into Will’s ear that Nico was not privy to. Will stiffened ever so slightly as he walked. Nico could sense the tension. He had to wonder why.

“Hey” said Will, all of a sudden. “Let’s sit over there!” he continued, guiding Nico over to the left side of the campfire. As he sat down, Nico caught sight of Percy, annabeth, Frank, Reyna, Piper, Jason and Hazel, taking a seat next to a trio of other demigods that Nico couldn’t quite make out in the flickering light of the campfire.

Nico very badly wanted to join his friends, but he didn’t want to leave Will and Lou Ellen just because he felt like a third wheel to the two. It was not only rude, but he felt hesitant about leaving Will and Lou Ellen alone together, even though Will had reassured him that there was nothing between them. That they were just best friends. Some small cynical part of Nico was still not convinced by that.

For a split-second, Nico noticed a frown on Hazel’s face. It was gone almost as soon as he looked. It had come and gone so fast that Nico had to wonder if he was just seeing things. His attention was quickly grabbed by Chiron, who walked up to the fire and stomped his hoof on the ground. Chiron raised his arms and declared the sing-along begun.

Nico felt rather awkward when Piper stood up and started leading the campers to the tune of a strange, entirely new song. He didn’t know the words, nor could he properly understand the tune. Will and Lou Ellen were both quiet as well. Was something wrong? Nico couldn’t really tell.

Then, Nico remembered that Will didn’t think very highly of his singing voice. That was probably why the expression on his face was so steely. “What is Piper singing?” asked Nico. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard that song before during the sing-alongs.”

Much to Nico’s surprise, Will turned to him and said “I haven’t either. I don’t really know.” The strange expression on his face vanished, however, as soon as he met Nico’s eyes. Will smiled. The song was ending.

The three demigods enjoyed the rest of the campfire singing along to the more familiar tunes after the one that Piper sang. Well, Lou Ellen sang along. Nico was far too shy to do so. Will was far too self-conscious to even try.

About halfway through the campfire, Nico felt like he had to pee, but he held it, not wanting to leave in the middle of things. The end of the whole thing could not have come any sooner. Nico jumped up to his feet. Will looked up at him, concerned. “You alright, Nico” he asked.

“Yeah, I am” he said, unable to keep the note of urgency from his voice. “I just _really_ need to go pee.” Will and Lou Ellen laughed. Together, the three of them walked away from the fire, waving at Nico’s other friends as they passed by. A momentary wave of fear washed over Nico as Annabeth’s face paled.

Unfortunately, he did not think to investigate. The urge to urinate was far too great. “I’ll see you at the cabin. I really need to go” he said to Will. The son of Apollo chuckled. “I’ll be right back!” shouted Nico, already about ten feet away.

Will and Lou Ellen shared worried glances.

\----------

“I can’t believe they actually tried to do that!” exclaimed Will. He’d invited Lou Ellen into the Hades cabin, despite her insistence that it was a bad idea. He was beyond caring at the moment. He was _furious_. The look on Annabeth’s face had practically confirmed what Lou Ellen had suspected. They _were_ tryign to get Nico and Will to confess each other. Fortunately, Lou had sensed the Mist and wove it protectively around the trio when they went to the campfire. She’d fooled Hazel into thinking the spell was working.

The remaining members of the Seven, and Reyna, had not been aware that anything had gone wrong with their plan until the very last moment. “I have a confession to make, Will” said Lou Ellen. “They came to me a little while ago. They asked me for the magic to do what they were planning to do.” Will smiled at Lou Ellen. He could always trust her to be looking out for him. “I didn’t give it to them, but that’s not what I’m confessing to you about. I have to tell you. I was very tempted to do it.” Will looked crestfallen at his best friend.

“Please don’t misunderstand me, Will!” she pleaded. “But I just don’t like seeing you beating yourself up over a boy like this!” The daughter of Hecate grabbed Will by the shoulders and shook him, hoping, despite the obvious futility, that it would somehow instill some sense into the son of Apollo. By the time Lou Ellen was done, Will was feeling a bit woozy.

Either Lou Ellen was stronger than she looked, or Will wsa just very light and easy to move around. Will elected to think it was the latter. He was lanky. That much was true. “It’s stupid, Will! Why can’t you just go and tell him you like him already!” she said, the hand-wringing palpable in her voice. “You know he’s gay like you. You know he doesn’t like Jason… What have you got to lose?” asked Lou Ellen, letting Will go. The daughter of Hecate planted her fists on her hips.

“But didn’t you tell me no more than a few days ago to take it easy with Nico? That I shouldn’t be opening myself up entirely onto him because it might just scare him off even more?” Will was confused! First Lou Ellen tells him to take it easy. Now, she was telling him he was being too slow, cautious, uncertain and fearful about everything. Granted, she was somewhat right, but Will did not understand what she wanted him to do. “What do you want me to do? Jump on him the first chance I get and confess undying love and loyalty?”

“Will Solace, you have brains” said Lou Ellen. Then she smirked. “Or at least I like to think my best friend has brains. Use them. I did tell you thise things, Will, but you’re just telling him you like him” said Lou Ellen.

“You’re not even asking him out on a date, or asking him to kiss you—” a mischievous glint crossed Lou Ellen’s eyes. “Hell, you’re not even asking him to have sex with you!” Will’s face turned vivid red. “You’re just letting him know that you’re attracted to him” she said, grinning at the colour of Will’s face. “I’ll ask you again. What have yoou got to lose if you do it?” Lou Ellen was sorely tempted to shake Will a second time. It was infuriating, dealing with his self-consciousness.

“I’ve got a friend I could lose, Lou…” said Will. He really did think of Nico as a friend now, though he wasn’t sure what Nico thought of him. Will hoped that the friendship was mutual.

Lou Ellen sighed and reached down, taking Will’s hands in her own and squeezing them. “Look—” she said, sternly but gently. “—If you want my advice, Will, I’ll give it to you. I’m telling you. Just confess to him already. It’s the quickest, most painless way to get it over with.” There was a look of uncertainty in Will’s eyes. “If you don’t do it, you’ll carry this thing around with you your whole life! You’ll regret not doing anything when you could’ve. Don’t wait until it’s too late to do anything, Will.”

Lou Ellen sighed. “Just. Do. It.” She insisted, punctuating her words with progressively tighter squeezes of Will’s hands.

“But I can’t just go and tell him—” The door swung open. Nico di Angelo stepped into the cabin as Will spoke the next three words that would change the course of everyone’s lives forever. “—I like you!”

Nico froze where he stood. From his perspective, he saw Will, and Lou Ellen, who had not been invited into his cabin, holding hands. From his perspective, he saw that Will was looking at Lou Ellen. That Will was telling Lou Ellen that he liked her. He felt betrayed. “You lied to me…” he squeaked, cursing himself for the sound that escaped him. “You lied to me!” he said a second time, firmer, even as he heard the sound of his heart shattering into a million pieces.

Nico took one step back. Then another. Then another. The world seemed to be moving in slow motion around him. Will was looking at him, blinking uncomprehendingly. Nico took another step. Then he tripped over the threshold, landing on his ass. “You lied to me!” he screamed at Will.

That was when Will finally realized what had happened. He shook his head frantically from side to side, mouthing ‘no’ even if no words would come out of his mouth. A look of horror crossed Will’s face, and he threw his hands up to shield himself against the oncoming wave of shadows that erupted from Nico with pure lancing agony.

Will staggered and crumpled to the floor at the same time that Lou Ellen did, convulsing at the sheer piercing agony of the pain. “No…” he whispered, voice ragged and broken as tears forced themselves out of his eyes. “Nico…” he rasped before the world went black.

Will regained consciousness a few moments later, but his vision was still clouded by pain. When his sight cleared, he scrambled up to his knees frantically, and crawled over to the doorway. In vain he tried to look for Nico, head and eyes darting wildly about as he tried.

Will looked down. There was nothing left of Nico but a puddle of shadows just outside the threshold of the Hades cabin. “No!” Will screamed, clawing with his fingers at the dirt until they bled. “No!” he cried, blinded by the tears that swam in his vision. “Nico!” he yelled, voice raw.

Annabeth, Percy, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank and Reyna came running at the sound of Will’s screaming. They took one look at Will, sprawled on the floor, his hands limp by his sides, his fingers dripping blood. Inside, Lou Ellen was on the floor, still twitching from the aftershocks of the pain that had coursed through her system. They all saw the puddle of darkness in front of Will.

“Where is Nico?” demanded Reyna, eyes blazing with anger as she leapt across the distance, picked Nico up by the collar, and slammed him so hard against the nearest wall that his head bounced against it. Her entire body shook with barely-contained fury.

The fact that Nico actually liked this particular son of Apollo was the only reason that Will was still alive and breathing. Aurum and Argentum came bounding from across the green. “What did you do to him?!” Reyna demanded. “And don’t lie, or I will kill you.”

Sobbing, and barely able to speak coherently, the son of Apollo managed to croak “He’s gone…” Tears started to fall from Reyna’s eyes. The breath was knocked out of Will’s lungs when the praetor grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him against the wall again. “I…” Will could barely get the words out. “I didn’t do anything to him…”

Reyna glared at her dogs, wanting them to do something like tear the son of Apollo apart, but they did nothing, except growl at the shrinking dark stain on the ground outside the Hades cabin. She let go of the golden-haired demigod, and Will slid to the floor, drawing ragged, shuddering breaths.

Hazel closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. “He’s not dead” she said, after a minute. “Not yet, at least…” she said, trailing off, barely able to contain the tears that were streaming from her eyes.

“We need to find him!” said Reyna, glaring at all the other demigods outside the cabin. They were still staring at the pool of shadows that was already evaporating. “We need to find him!” roared the praetor so loud that Aurum and Argentum covered their ears, whining, and the windows of the cabin shook.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it. :3. One more chapter to go!
> 
> FEEL FREE TO LOB THE HATE AT ME! I CAN TAKE IT. What do you think of what happened? Who made the mistakes? Who was stupid? WHO IS TO BLAME FOR WHAT HAS HAPPENED? <3\. Comment! If you don't, Nico's not going to be coming back! *cackles*
> 
> As always, I highly encourage sending me asks on Tumblr at [Malkuthe Highwind](http://malkuthe-highwind.tumblr.com)
> 
> Until Saturday. *cackles evilly*


	7. The Homecoming No One Remembers

~~A year, six months, and a day later

To say that Nico di Angelo had changed would be to do a massive disservice to all that he had gone through in the past year and a half. The Italian’s shaggy locks fell about his face, framing it. He’d been gaunt before, but now he was lean, his face bearing a rugged handsomeness about it that seemed to not have matured enough just yet. Nico was wearing a charcoal gray shirt and a pair of rather form-fitting black jeans. Around his shoulders hung a tattered drakonskin cloak that was stained with soot but nevertheless seemed to pulse with a life of its own.

Nico fingered the collar of the cloak, his fingers straying to the area just under the cowl where he knew a silver skull pin had been affixed earlier that day. It was gone now. The now-familiar weight of the pin was missing. It was almost uncomfortable. Nevertheless, Nico had had to leave it. The pin was now elsewhere. It was affixed to the centre of a particular golden shroud that was waiting, finished, in the Apollo cabin.

“Chiron” said Nico, melting out of the shadows into the centaur’s office. Chiron didn’t even jump. He barely looked startled. Nico could tell, from the tension in the centaur’s body, however, that Chiron had been surprised. Nico suspected that it had been merely countless years of warrior training that let Chiron feign complete coolness in the face of a rather startling visit.

“Nico di Angelo…” said Chiron, his voice cracking ever so slightly. Nico couldn’t help but feel somewhat bad. How many warriors had Chiron trained, sent on quests, and waited upon only for them to never return? Nico asked himself. How many heroes did Chiron wait for, to celebrate a successful quest, only to have to burn their shroud when they didn’t come home?

One would think that after thousands of years, the pain would be somewhat lessened, or that the centaur would be used to it by now. By the expression on Chiron’s face, it was evident that the pain was as fresh as it had been all those countless years ago. Nico couldn’t blame the old centaur. There were still days when _he_ felt the searing agony of losing Bianca, and though he was loathe to admit, losing Will. “It’s been well over a year…” croaked the centaur.

“I know…” said Nico, his voice deeper now and more masculine in timbre than it had been when he left the camp in a storm of sheer agony. He still remembered what had happened that night as though it were yesterday. Returning to camp had reopened old wounds. Thankfully, by the end of the day, he would not remember what had happened. By the end of the day, only the pain would remain, but not the memories that they stemmed from.

Nico rose to his full height. He’d really changed. Profoundly. Chiron was impressed by the young man that Nico di Angelo had become. Yes he was still thin. Yes he still looked rather light for his age and height, but it was not as bad as when the war against Gaea had been won. This Nico di Angelo was lean and toned, but not too muscled, where the old Nico had looked thin and malnourished. He was tall, though, Chiron noted, still not as tall as Will Solace. “When is Will returning?”

Chiron raised an eyebrow. He’d heard of what had happened that fateful night. He’d heard of why Nico had left the camp so abruptly. He should have been firmer in his disapproval of the plan that had been put into motion. He should have stopped it with all his not inconsiderable influence. Nevertheless, the problems they’d had with Olympus had gotten in the way of it all. Sadly, it had led to Nico’s disappearance.

Two months after Nico vanished. Two months. That was how long Will had beaten himself up about it. Chiron suspected the true length of time was even longer. The old centaur knew that Will had returned to the infirmary out of duty. He could not bear to see that the camp was without its head healer for two months. He could not bear to see that the Apollo cabin was without its head counsellor for two months. He could no longer bear to spend every waking moment in the Hades cabin, blaming himself for what had come to pass.

“He is on a quest” said Chiron, simply. The implication was clear enough for both of them. Chiron didn’t know _when_ Will would return, _if_ he even did. The quest was, of course, unofficial, but it was a quest all the same. Without the oracle or the gift from Delphi working properly, there had been no official quests since Gaea’s defeat.

The few gods that the camp still had contact with had only limited foresight. Without Olympus, the gods were somewhat fearful of ancient evils. All their power was turned towards trying to pierce the veil that hung around Olympus. The Hunters, while the gods where otherwise indisposed, returned to the camp every week with news of the lay of the land. The news, while not grim, was unsettling. Still no one had heard from the gods on Olympus.

Nico made a small sound. He’d wanted to stick around and maybe see Will from a distance, but apparently that had been too much to ask of the fates. It seemed he would have to go through the coming trials alone, without so much as the image of Will and his other friends to keep him company through the dark days ahead.

“Then I must leave, again” said Nico. Chiron bowed his head in recognition of the son of Hades’ choice. Chiron had no power to stop the boy, nor did the burning determination lying just underneath the profound sadness of Nico’s eyes tell him that he had any right to do so.

Nico blinked away the tears welling in his eyes. There would be time enough for those later. After he’d done the grisly duty that he’d accepted upon himself. “I am sorry, Chiron…” said Nico, voice catching somewhat in his throat. “But this is something that I must do.”

Nico drew the Stygian iron blade from its scabbard, but there was something new about it, something eldritch and wholly unnatural, wholly unholy. It was sacrilegious, almost, setting sight on that blade. “That weapon…” breathed the centaur, backing up against the nearest wall. “It will destroy you. You know this, yes?”

Nico raised the blade anove his head. “I do.” His hands trembled. “And that price is something that I am willing to pay for what I must do.” The son of Hades brought the blade down onto the floor, where a rift in the ground opened with the thunderous groan of splitting rock. A gush of Mist rushed up to meet the blade.

For a moment, time seemed to come to a standstill, tendrils of the mist curling against the black metal of the sword, before suddenly being sucked into it with near-explosive force. A high-pitched whine filled the air. Then, an ethereal, pearlescent shockwave of energy erupted from Nico. It smelled faintly of poppies.

Concentric rings of pearlescent light rippled outwards from the Big House, obliterating any and all memories from all others of his visit in the camp. Chirenon slumped against the wall, then fell against the floor with a thud, unconscious. From Nico’s own mind, the memories of the fateful night that had caused him so much pain evaporated.

Then, the matter of his visit taken care of, Nico di Angelo stepped into the shadows, long before Chiron, or anyone else in the camp, could recover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! The last chapter of _Uncertain as the Dawn_
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this leg of the journey as much as I did. It was fantastic. Fabulous, even. The next title in the series, _The Years of My Longing_ is coming up. The first chapter will be posted this coming Saturday. The next chapter will be posted the next Saturday. There won't be a Tuesday update next week because of Physics and Calculus finals!
> 
> Tell me what you think! I want to see your speculations about what happened, and what is different about Nico's sword! If you don't comment, I will put in a scene of Will self-harming in the next series! I mean it! *Cackles evilly*
> 
> Anyway, I really sincerely hope you enjoyed this last chapter, even though it's relatively short. If you have any questions, drop me an ask over on my Tumblr! [Malkuthe Highwind!](http://malkuthe-highwind.tumblr.com/ask)


	8. UPDATE!

Hello there dear readers. If you haven't noticed yet, my story [_The Years of My Longing_](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2727383/chapters/6110375), the direct sequel to this one, is already up! Head on over and read the first chapter, with a special little touch. <3\. Hope you enjoy it. :D


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